Ivory Woods
by Dictatorship
Summary: Ivory never knew where she came from. All she had was her best friend, Stryker. But when she's suddenly thrown into the world of a fairy tale, trust becomes a word she no longer knows, and a girl rises from the ashes of who she used to be. DON'T JUDGE ME! I'm not good at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Hola. To anyone that may actually be reading this, I am quite proud of myself, despite the fact that this is short and...yeah. You see, this is my first chapter of my first fanfiction, and I should be asleep right now. I've decided to star with a fairytale rather than jump straight into fictions for novels, so LET THE READAGE BEGIN!**

BRING! The bell startled me out of my trance. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs filling my mind and shoved my pencil into the pocket of my ripped jeans, adjusting my tank top and shouldering my book bag.

My freshman algebra teacher shook his head at me as I stalked out, having learned absolutely nothing. I just shrugged and tucked my raven colored spiral curls behind my ear before searching the hallways of Brookefield High for my best friend, Stryker. I couldn't find him anywhere, though the hallways seemed overcrowded. I yawned, the thought of my warm bed filling my mind. 7 AM boarding school would drive any kid out of their minds.

I wasn't here because my parents didn't want me or anything, like Stryker's. Actually, I had never even known them. They left me on the side of the road as soon as I could walk. Mrs. Sheffered and her husband had taken me in and let me grow up to be my own person instead of conforming me to the ways of society, like most teenagers, and I was grateful for that. They'd loved me, despite my oddities, but ended up not being able to afford me anymore, and so I was sent to a free boarding school for kids whose parents couldn't care less what happened to them. The late bell rang and I quickened my pace, only to find that the crowd was now impenetrable. I caught a glimpse of Stryker's chesnut colored head peeking above some other people's and stood on my tiptoes, trying to let him know where I was.

But it seemed he already knew...

He was heading towards me, dark blue eyes ghosted over, and paler than I'd ever seen him. His gaze connected with mine over the heads of the crowd, and it felt as if time itself had stopped, that everything was still, and the world was nothing more than a whisper on a breeze. My vision almost seemed to turn into a black and white photograph, before everything snapped back into attention. Only this time, the hallway was deserted except for Stryker. He stood over me, eyes troubled and murmured something under his breath.

"We need to talk."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my people. I actually got a comment and an alert from people I ****_don't_**** know, so yay. Virtual cookies for those gorgeous humans. (Yes, I'm weird.) **

***Disclaimer that shall stand for this entire story because I'm lazy like that***

**I don't own this fairytale. Otherwise, I'd probably be long gone. However, I do own my character's personalities, their names, the twists of this plot, and whatever else I own. *pulls out shotgun* SO BACK OFF.**

Scowling at my best friend, I followed him down the hallway, rushing to keep up with his long strides. He'd wanted to talk, but apparently, it was somehow possible for us to be overheard in the completely deserted hallway.

"Stryker?" I call, stopping.

He spins. "What?"

I hesitate for a moment, staring into those eyes that somehow suddenly seem so empty. He was always happy. Always. I remember almost every time I felt like breaking down, he was there to crack a joke, and my world seemed a little bit brighter.

_***Flashback***_  
It was my first day at Brookefield. I had absolutely no desire to be there, even though Stryker and I were going together. I'd known him since we were five, and we were very close, but I was still walking alone. I just didn't really want to see anyone. Footsteps came running up behind me and an arm was thrown playfully around my neck in a choke-hold. Stryker's voice came floating into my ear from somewhere behind my head.

"You're avoiding me."

"No." I drawled, sarcasm lacing my voice. "Why would I do that?"

"Laugh all you want." He shot back. "But I think you should get a monkey."

I stared at him.

"They're very good companions, and their company is much better than that of a unicorn." He stated matter-of-factly. "Not to mention, they are very comforting and can be trained to throw poop at one's enemies."

With that, he walked away, leaving me to wonder what on Earth he'd done to discover this, but with my mood considerably brighter. I walked to my first class, a bounce in my step and a tiny grin spread across my face.  
_***End of Flashback***_

I take a deep breath.

"What's going on?"

He shakes his head and motions for me to follow him as he walks straight out of the school.  
I bite my lip so hard it draws blood before following him.

A straight and a couple of turns later, we've stopped in front of a dilapidated building. It's completely black, but a shade of which where it almost looks burnt, like charcoal. I stagger forward, almost falling straight onto the door, which reeks of a certain smell that I couldn't quite place. Suddenly feeling cold, I pull my hoodie sleeves over my pale, trembling fingers. I feel the presence of a hand on my shoulder and jump about a foot in the air. Stryker raises an eyebrow and I shake my head, curling into his side. I'm not usually a wimp about things, but something about this place gave me the creeps.

Stryker drew in a sharp breath that almost seemed to pain him before shoving me gently towards the door. I look back at him uncertainly, but there's a cold decisiveness written across his face. Almost feeling betrayed, but having no idea why, I opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door in Stryker's emotionless face. Gaze firmly on the ground, which was littered with sharp tools and things to trip over, I travelled to a solitary door in the corner of the room. It took me a long time to see that Stryker was right behind me, fingering something inside the sleeve of his shirt. My heart leapt into my throat and he nodded at the door. Stepping inside, I took in the dim lighting.

It was pretty grotesque, actually. The air had a thick, grubby feel to it, making it incredibly hard to breathe. Something dark and sticky pooled in a corner. It was a dark color in this light and, based on my current situation, I'm assuming it's blood. A draft breezed in through an open window, freezing me despite my thick hoodie. I briefly wished my jeans weren't so torn up from overuse. Startlingly enough, Stryker seemed absolutely fine. A thick layer of dust covered everything in sight.

Well, everything but a bearded, dark-haired man sitting menacingly in a corner, and his two black-clad cronies beside him.

"Ivory. You've kept us waiting for a long time."

Confusion filled my mind, and my pulse jackhammered inside of me, instincts screaming to run as fast as I could. There was malice filling their eyes, and I'm almost positive I was shaking, and yet, I couldn't stop an overwhelming sense of indignation from filling me from head to toe.

Even considering that, my voice came out as a mere whisper.

"Who the heck are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it's so short, BUT I MUST GET AN A IN SCIENCE, AND SO I'M SLACKING ON IT! Just deal with it. **

**Sheesh. *Scratches head awkwardly***

My question went completely and utterly unanswered. I was just stared at by everyone in the room for a long moment that seemed to hang, suspended in time.

"Well?"

I breathed out shakily. This time the head black-clad man-for now, we shall call him Brock- gave me a sadistic grin that made my breath catch. It was full of sharp, minuscule teeth and reeked of dog breath.

"Miss Woods, won't you sit down?"

I took a look at the sticky substance on the chair and backed up a step.

"No. I'm good."

Brock frowned deeply at me. The cronies rose and I was suddenly being lifted through the air and being set in the seat. I squirmed, but was pushed back almost immediately.

"Now," Brock began. "Since we're all comfortable, why don't we begin this talk?"

Without waiting for assent, he plowed on in his grating voice. I briefly shut my eyes, the sound becoming too much. I gently rubbed my temples and was disgusted to find the substance from my chair on my fingers. The metallic scent confirmed my suspicions that it was blood.

"Miss Woods!" Brock snapped. "I practically have you kidnapped and you don't even listen?"

"No." I retorted. "You irritate me."

I thought I heard a small chuckle behind me, but when I went to meet Stryker's eyes, they immediately slid to the ground. A heaviness settled in on me and wouldn't lift off of my chest. My heart pumped erratically, and I knew I was alone in this. Completely alone. Who knew what would happen to me? And why was Stryker being this way? It didn't make any sense.

"As I was saying,"

One crony held my arms down to the chair.

"I've had young Stryker take you here for a very specific reason."

Another one held a knife to my throat.

I gasped, but quickly learned that if I breathed too hard the knife would nick my skin. A single drop of blood rolled downwards, staining my snowy white t-shirt.

"You, darling girl, are not normal."

I snorted, tempted to ask him how he ever could've guessed that, but in went the knife. "Okay." I choked out in a strangled voice. "What am I?" My fingers gripped the chair with iron infused into their strength. It had gotten to the point where my knuckles turned white, and then purple. I carefully kept my face smooth, screaming on the inside. I was surrounded by people and there was no way out. Why was there _no way out_? The knife didn't even worry me so much as the crazed feeling of adrenaline that soared through me in the worst way possible.

"It is not what so much as whom." Brock murmured.

I frowned, choking on my breath and pointed out mentally that I was some random orphan. Whoopdedoo.

"You have heard of fairy tales?" He grilled. The knife was moved back just enough for me to nod. "Good." He leaned forward into my face. "Well, princess. Let's just cut to the chase. This little game tires me. You are, in fact, royalty from a fairy tale. Snow White, to be more specific." I felt my jaw open just before it snapped back up in pain. "Wha-?" My throat grew dry, but I would not, would _not_allow myself to consider it for even a moment.

"You're kidding me, right? That's completely ridiculous. I'd be crazy to believe it."

My voice sounded breathy, panicked. Even to me. A hysterical laugh bubbled in my throat as I looked around.

"Right?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's The Mighty Chapter 4 when I should be doing disgustingly boring math problems. WOOT WOOT.**

"I'm bored of the child. Take her away." Brock said dismissively.

"But-" I protested. Stryker took one look at me and jerked his head to the side, telling me to let it go. Yeah, like that was going to happen. "I mean, this is ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense! It's something straight out of a bad movie whose plot line progresses way too fast!"

I was at a loss for words now. I didn't believe it. I refused to. These were just bad men messing with a little girl's head. But if that were true, why would Stryker have brought me here?

Brock flashed his animalistic teeth again.

"Bye, kid."

And I was shoved out the door, Stryker on my heels.

Once I stepped off of the threshold, a light mist in the air settled heavily over me. I bit my lip and watched the mist condense into a sprinkle, and then full-on rain. A crack of thunder rippled through the thick silence, and I was almost unaware of the presence beside me. Almost.

"Well, if that's not cliche, then I don't know what is." Strykers voice came out as a deep baritone as he stared in the same direction I did.

"Yeah." I yanked the strap of my bag back up on my shoulder. He cocked an eyebrow at my sudden display of violence.

"Why did you take me here?" My eyes didn't move off of the horizon, but they squinted as I swallowed with a little difficulty.

"It's true." He'd confirmed something I'd already known, but hadn't wanted to believe.

"How do you know?" I asked stubbornly.

"Ivory..." He lifted a hand, turned to show me his wrist. There, in beautiful calligraphy, were the letters B and G branded into his skin. Brothers Grimm.

"Like a cow." I commented dryly. Rolling his eyes, he flipped my wrist over as well. Same letters, same place. My heart sank, but I shoved my hair out of my eyes and just sighed. I can't say I didn't expect it. There was a gut feeling that jumped around inside of me as soon as this whole mess was suggested.

"Our lives were written out for us. In a freaking fairytale." He muttered bitterly. I shrugged. "Not necessarily." Another eyebrow raise. "Well, I'm not exactly the typical picture of Snow White, am I? She's got sweetness, naivety to the point of stupidity, charm, manners... I, on the other hand, have sarcasm that escalates until it turns downright mean, a calculating mind, and an unapproachable exterior. Name one thing that I have in common with that pansy."

He shrugged. "Your hearts are in the right place. You're the fairest in the land." He nudged me teasingly.

"Oh, shut up. No one likes you."

"Of course not." He answered evenly. "They love me."

Laughing, I straightened up and watched sheet lightning paint the world white.

"If I'm Snow White, where do you fit into all of this? You seem a bit tall to be a dwarf, but I think I would peg you as a Dopey."

Stryker swallowed, his eyes growing weary.

"I'm the huntsman."

I froze.

A sense of finality stung under my emotionless words.

"Of course you are."


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, it's short-ish again. Deal with it.**

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"Are you going to run away?" Stryker asked softly after a while. I glanced at him, but his face revealed nothing. I debated it in my mind for a moment, but shook my head no.

"Well, what are you going to do, then?"

"I'm going to walk away very quickly."

"Ivory." His voice took on a warning tone.

"Fine. I'm going to go to my dorm, curl up under the covers, and listen to All Time Low's new album."

"Ivory!"

"Okay, okay. But I was serious about that one." He grinned and punched my arm playfully.

"So, what do you know?" I asked.

"Not much more than you do. From what I heard, our fairy tale begins soon. No one involved in it will know whats going on. Neither will other people."

"Great, so what can we do to stop it?"

"It's inevitable."

I sighed and shoved back another annoying black spiral curl. Stryker gave me a small smile, but then his features twisted into a grimace and he placed his hands over his stomach like he was going to throw up.

"Stryker?" I asked worriedly. There was a sound like the crack of a whip and I whirled my head around to face it. When I looked back, Stryker's eyes had grown cold. He was dressed in all black like an assassin. But the biggest change of all was, he was pointing a gun straight at my head.

My heart grew cold and it felt like somebody was sitting on my abdomen. Without thinking, I dropped down onto my hands and kicked my legs out, hitting the back of his knees. He buckled under his weight and I took off running, my feet carrying me to a familiar place while my mind was elsewhere. Tears filled my eyes. I'd just beat up my best friend, but it was him or me. For the time being, I chose me.

My feet kept pounding on the cement until I was in front of the thick black door of a mansion. Relief filled me. There was no way Stryker would think to look for me at his house. It was absurd. His mother hated me. My heart sank. Shoot, his mother hates me...

Ah, well. She can deal with it.

I knocked on the door and a beautiful woman with caramel colored eyes and chestnut colored eyes opened it. "Ivy." Her nose wrinkled in disgust. I rolled my eyes. "It's Ivory. Nice to see you too, Mrs. Venator. Excuse me."

I pushed past her and her designer dress and dove for the closet on the first floor. I waited with baited breath for Stryker to find me, for a knock on the front door. I never got one. Instead, the same whipping noise from earlier emanated through the lonely house . Out came the fated words, "Mirror, mirror..." In the smooth voice of Stryker's mother.

"Ohmyfreakinggodwhathaveidone ?!" I choked.

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**MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Another cliffy. I love these things. Review, young chickens that actually read this story.**

**BUH-BYE.**


	6. Chapter 6

**WOOT WOOT. UPDATE TIME! But unfortunately, that means I'll have to spend a lot of time on homework over the weekend. Oh, well. READ AND REVIEW!**

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I sat quietly in the closet hyperventilating as Mrs. Venator slowly turned her head past me. A vein on her neck was throbbing and her eyes had turned to a molten shade of their previous caramel. She'd stopped in her mantra, head turned to the door, where there had been the unmistakable sound of fiddling with the lock just moments before.

There was a muffled cursing before a large bang and the door was simply kicked down.

"Mother." Stryker muttered coldly.

"Huntsman." She snapped, fixing her hair in the gilded mirror that resided in the hallway.

I knew that Stryker would sniff me out as soon as he wasn't distracted, but I honestly never thought he'd come HERE, of all places. His mother hates him almost as much as she hates me.

While the two were engaged in a stare-down, I slowly opened the closet door and tiptoed to the entrance. My heart thundered against my ribs as I winced every time my breathing became too loud.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stryker's voice stopped me in my tracks. I heaved out a breath and turned to face him, sheepishly pointing at the door.

"Uh, I was trying the whole 'stealthy' thing."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Not well." I squeaked.

He stared into my eyes for a long moment. "You are so stupid."

"Should I run now?"

"Oh yes." Mrs. Venator said. "I like it when they run."

"Yeah." I agreed. "But I'm more of a dramatic exit type of girl."

Their foreheads wrinkled almost identically in confusion just before I knocked down the woman's precious mirror. A face like flowing water appeared on the surface.

"I don't die that easily, sweetheart."

"Gah!" I groaned. "Come _on_, you have _got_ to be kidding me!"

I slammed my fist into it repeatedly and even brought it down on my knee several times before Stryker pulled me back by my hood.

"What are you doing?"

"I am having a bad day, that's what I'm doing."

Something glinted in his eyes, and I almost thought he remembered me, but they turned cold and hard again before he threw me at the ground.

I heard something crack and an immense pain spread through me, especially near my ribs. Completely against my will, tears sprang to my eyes from the shock. I didn't know how badly something could _hurt_ until now. Stryker and his mother sneered down at me as I gasped over and over again for air. A fire was working its way through me. I opened my mouth to say something, I'm not sure what, maybe to spit in their faces as an act of rebellion, but as soon as my lungs filled with air, I was thrown into a fit of hacking coughs.

Warm blood seeped onto the sleeve that I held over my mouth to muffle the sound. I hadn't noticed until now, as the outside of my body had gone numb, but Stryker was kicking me. I curled up into a ball to try and avoid hitting anything important. A sadistic smile painted his mother's pretty face as she watched Stryker, and yet he was nothing more than a tool to her; a puppet; a little minion.

Stryker finally stopped once he was satisfied that I was close enough to death. It may have been painful physically, but it was downright traumatizing to my mental health, and heart, for that matter to lay there and watch my best friend-my only friend- beat me within an inch of my life as if I meant no more to him than a sewer rat. I knew he didn't remember me, but it happened so fast that it seemed real. And it _hurt_. But I guess this is my reality, now. I grit my teeth. I'm a stinking _princess_.

"Take it to the basement." Mrs. Venator said dismissively, already back to examining her reflection.

_IT?_ I hope she slips and falls and gets dirt all over that precious dress of hers. Stryker pulled me by my arm down some stairs and tossed me like a rag doll onto the ground, knocking the wind out of me.

I pulled myself into a sitting position and started to assess my wounds. A rare shaft of light fell on the only object of value down here: an ornate mirror on an old tool bench. That's when it struck me. The mirror hadn't said I was the fairest of them all yet, or I'd be dead. If I could get out of here now, and find a place to hide, I might still have a chance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, people. I was waiting to post this chapter until I got at least one more review, 'cause dictators need love, too. But, I'm me, so I got tired of waiting. ENJOY THE STORY, OR I WILL FIND YOU :)**

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"Let me out!" I screeched at the top of my lungs. I'd given up on escape-or at least, that's what I wanted Stryker and his mother to believe.

In reality, instead of sitting helplessly on the floor like they expected, I was looking on the old tool bench for a hammer. I cursed under my breath. No luck.

Getting on my knees, I ran my fingers along the underside of the bench. My finger hit something sharp and I quickly drew it back, watching the blood swell up. Running my hand along in the other direction, I hit something round and plastic. I wrenched it down and held my breath in a panic as it clattered to the floor.

Listening for any sign that they had heard me, I walked quickly over to the door leading to the backyard. Of course, the screwdriver was too big. Curse everything.

I threw the screwdriver down and raised my eyes to look around again. Same as before, just another stupid mirror. Wait...

I rushed over to it, biting my lip and thrust the screwdriver at the center of it. Luckily, this one didn't just grow a face and sneer at me. Splinters and cracks rippled outwards from the original stabbing point, and all the shards rained down in a beautiful array of a silver mess. I lifted a small shard and threw it into the lock with quick, jerky movements.

"What the heck was that?" Came a voice from upstairs.

Several moments later, I tossed the door open just as the one leading to the inside of the mansion was slammed against the wall. I whipped my head around and stared at Stryker, my eyes like that of a deer in the headlights.

Our gazes connected and he held my eyes for a long moment before whispering in a strained voice, "Run."

My eyebrows furrowed as I stood, uncomprehending. His eyes glowed with something I couldn't quite identify, and they looked...real. Like he remembered, but he didn't.

"Go!" He hissed.

I shook my head to clear it and raced out the door, my muscles screaming in pain as I broke out into full-on sprint. I fought back the bile threatening to come up out of my throat and ran until I was completely lost.

I was in a dark forest that had the sort of cold that hung over you in a suffocating way. Desperately, I swallowed over the lump in my throat, trying to keep my wits about me. I was completely, hopelessly at a loss of what to do.

Maybe Stryker had known this was happened, and planned this whole thing out. It was like a game to him. I was just prey to him, not human, not his best friend. Just another mission.

My eyes misted over, but I blatantly refused to let any tears fall. I was enough of a mess as it was. I climbed the branches of a tree and closed my eyes, welcoming sleep. What woke me up hours later was a light tapping on the trunk of the tree I slept on.

The dirt-streaked face of one of my classmates materialized through my sleep-filled eyes. I looked closer at him, realizing that the dirt staining his features was actually coal.

His family was poor, putting him at Brookefield for the same reason mine had. He had to work in a coal mine to help raise money. It was pretty sad, actually, because he was a really nice guy. We'd done a project together once.

"Hi, princess." He yawned, and grinned at me through the dark circles under his eyes.

I smiled gently down at him. "Hi, Aidan."

"Having fun up there?"

"Yes." I stated indignantly.

He laughed."Come on."

I frowned in confusion. "Where to?"

"Well, you've got nowhere to go, so I guess you'll just have to trust me."

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**Can anyone guess who Aidan is?**

**If you can, I'll put a character based on you in the story. **

**Yes, this is just another pathetic ploy for more reviews, but I am serious. **

**-Dictatorship**


	8. Chapter 8

**Jaknimble, you guessed who Aidan was first. WOOT WOOT. Congratulations. Please review with your character's personality/ appearance and I will find a place for them. Also, please respect my official sounding tone.**

**ANYWHO...NEW CHAPTER! **

**ENJOY IT. I COMMAND YOU.**

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We stumbled through the underbrush for a long while.

Well, _I_ stumbled.

The branches snagged my hair and tore at my sleeves, making me into a total wreck. Eventually, Aidan had to take my hand and lead me over the rocks we were jumping on to get across the river. I'd already slipped and fallen on my butt twice, and we weren't even halfway there.

He arched his back, stretching like a cat. "Wow, princess. I think you're more tired than I am."

My eyebrows pulled together as I gave him a confused smile that quickly slipped off of my face.

Oh. Sleepy. He was Sleepy.

Seeming to notice my breakthrough, Aidan nodded his head in my direction, gently catching me as I slid on a patch of moss. The river rushed past me as I leapt across the last section of it, my legs nearly buckling when I landed on the soft, damp grass. Aidan landed next to me and tugged me to the left, past a clearing and a pond, to a quaint little house surrounded by dense clumps of trees.

The house was no larger than two classrooms put together, made of mahogany in the style of a log cabin. It had blinding white window panes with a dark green roof and blinds. All in all, it was exactly the kind of house you'd expect to find in a hiker's magazine.

While Aidan fumbled around with his keys, stopping to yawn every so often, a small blond head popped up through the glass window in the door. Big brown eyes stared curiously up at me. The little guy couldn't have been more than seven. As I waved my fingers a little, his face broke out into a dorky grin, revealing a few missing teeth.

"That's Dustin." Aidan muttered, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand before shoving the key into the lock and swinging the door open.

He pointed to an adorable little girl I hadn't noticed, hiding behind a part of the wall that jutted out at an angle.

"That's his twin, Bailey."

I waved at her, too. Unlike Dustin, who had no problem approaching me, her cheeks dusted with a light pink, and she stared at me with huge round eyes as she slowly stepped back a couple times.

"She's just shy." Dustin's little boy voice came as he slipped his tiny hand into mine.

He waved Aidan off, calling,"Go take a nap."

Then he smiled at me again.

"Want to meet my other sibfings?" He asked, stumbling over the big word with a frown of confusion.

My heart melted. "Sure, sweetie."

He beamed and led me into a brightly lit room with a girl slightly older than me scribbling things down on paper. Her hair was a curly dirty blond, thrown into a neat ponytail, and her gray eyes gleamed intelligently behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

Seeing us come in, she gave us a flustered smile and hello, kissing Dustin's forehead before moving back to a thick book, her fingers flying deftly through the pages.

"That's Dyana."

_Doc._ I thought._ She must be Doc._

A boy around my age with light brown hair falling into his obsidian eyes scowled at me, walking past without sparing his younger brother a second glance. I think I've seen him around school.

"That's Gabe." Dustin whispered confidentially. "He has anger problems."

I laughed a little. No kidding. He was always glaring at people, specifically me, from the back of the classroom. We had science together.

Incessant chattering came from the next room over, which was painted a bright, perky shade of purple. I almost walked in, but Dustin pulled me back, mouthing not to let them see me.

A pretty girl with green eyes and long, straight auburn hair was talking animatedly to another girl with shiny caramel waves and silver eyes that were watering slightly as she sneezed into the crook of her elbow.

"So like, OMG, the prettiest diamond ever, right? Aidan found it last week, while you had to stay home because of your allergies."

She held up her hands to form a circle.

"It was this big, and so beautiful. I wish you could come down to the mines more often. Even though it's so dirty."

She wrinkled her nose.

"Mmmm. I'm hungry. Do you smell potatoes? I smell them. Oh my gosh, maybe Dyana's making shepherds pie again! That was sooooo good."

Dustin pointed to the green-eyed motormouth. "Harmony."

Then the quiet, silver-eyed one. "Sabrina. She, Aidan, and Gabe are triplets. Any questions?" He asked seriously.

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "Nope."

"Good. Come with me. I'll show you your room. Dinner will be ready soon."

My forehead creased. I get my own room? How long have they known I was coming?

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**Sorry. It's a bit of a filler chapter, but don't blame me. You ****_did_**** have to meet the dwarves at some point.**

**My next chapter will be up soon. Sorry for taking so long.**

**-Dictatorship**


	9. Chapter 9

**WOOHOO, UPDATE! Yes, 'tis rather short, but it's setting up for something that involves the introduction of Jaknimble's character. And as for you, Dawn Elliot, I'm not sure if that was an insult or a compliment... :) READ AND REVIEW, YOUNG POTATOES.**

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**Stryker's POV:**

I dropped the small silver object I was fumbling with as my mother's shrill, demanding voice filled my ears. Cursing, I leaned down and lifted up the little charm, staring at it for a moment longer before squeezing my fingers shut around it and slipping it into my pocket.

"What?" I shouted back, my voice laced with annoyance.

She appeared in my doorway, throwing my gun at my feet.

"Every moment you waste sitting here, that girl does more and more things, meets more and more people, and gains a little more insight on how to bring me down. So why, pray tell, are you just sitting here like a useless swine?"

I grit my teeth and clench my jaw, doing my best to keep my instincts and hatred in check. "With all due respect, your majesty, she _is_ just a teenage girl. There's not really all that much she can do to a queen, especially a queen with an assassin and an army of guards on her side."

"How dare you question me?!" She shrieked, eyes shrinking into pinpricks of fury. "You, huntsman, are the exact age of that little brat, and look at you! She can become anything that she wants to be, including my killer! Just because she's your age?! Of all the stupid..."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she immediately cut me off with her rant.

"That girl threatens the life of your queen. Is that a risk you are willing to take, simply because she's 'only a child'?"

"No." I hissed, keeping my gaze down.

Taking my actions as submission, the queen nodded and stalked out of the room.

"Get going. I want her heart brought to me by sundown in five evenings time."

And the door clicked shut.

I picked up my hunting knife and set about sharpening it, but neither my heart nor my mind were into it, and I ended up nicking myself because of where my thoughts led me. Did the young princess really deserve to die? She seemed innocent of any crime, and I didn't _think_ she would hurt anyone by choice, much less kill the queen.

The one thing I couldn't get a grasp on is why I really cared. I didn't know her. She meant nothing to me; just another target. And yet I couldn't shake the feeling that some part of me didn't _want_ to hurt her.

I was trained to kill for a living. I could do it without blinking, and in cold blood. I'd become disengaged and unattached from my emotions, so that being a murderer wouldn't drive me insane. It was a dark way to live your life, but I hardly thought anything of it.

Something in her eyes always made me stop and question myself. There was fear, that much was unmistakeable, but hiding somewhere underneath there, there was a recognition and a desperate plea for freedom. I felt some sort of connection to her, and I couldn't help but feel protective of the girl, and I didn't even know her name. I laughed bitterly, truly disgusted at how soft I was becoming.

She was nothing but another arrogant piece of royalty. They were all horrifically obsessed with power. She was a bug I could just crush under my boot; a nothing; a nobody.

It was odd, the way I felt about her. I was so mixed up and confused. I'm not supposed to care about what happens to her. I shouldn't and I can't, but... It's like I know her. That's why I had to be the one to go after her. I slung my hunting bag over my shoulder.

_If I don't hunt her, the queen will find someone else that'll see her dead in a heartbeat._

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**Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Dramatic-ness.**


	10. Chapter 10

I was awake, long after dinner was finished and everyone else lay asleep, just sitting in the window seat of my room, reminiscing memories of a life. A life that I probably couldn't ever go back to. All the laughs, the emotions, the love. All of it gone, because I was suddenly a princess, of all things. It didn't seem right. I wasn't special. I was an orphaned nobody, taken in by a nobody, and raised with big dreams that all seemed so insignificant to me now. It's funny, the way time can have that effect on you.

I shifted around on the seat, lifting the glass so the freezing air could come in.

I had a room facing the back of the house. It was nice and spacious, but felt untouched, for some reason. Like no one had ever dared to come in here. The walls and carpet were a smooth, even white, while the red bedspread bloomed out of it like a crimson rose. The walls around the window were angled so that I couldn't be seen from the doorway.

The stars seemed to shine brighter out here than in the town, and I couldn't tear my eyes off of them, my nerves keeping me up. I stared at them for so long that my vision started to blur, and it seemed as though one of them were moving towards me. For some reason, it had a more gold tinge to it than the others.

I watched, bewildered and shocked as it appeared to fly in through my open window. Rubbing my tired eyes, the features of a small winged girl materialized before me. She wasn't a star at all. She was a fairy.

She glowed in the darkness, casting dim shadows across my wall. Her deep, dark blue eyes were sparked with determination as she watched me.

"You're Ivory Woods?" Came a distinct, bell-like voice. I eyed her warily.

"Yes."

A grin split her face. "I'm Jae. Nice to meet you. Now, follow me."

She zoomed out the window and I leapt through it after her, yanking on a hoodie.

"Why should I trust you?" I asked, struggling to keep up with her. She just shrugged, tossing her indigo-streaked light blond hair over one shoulder.

There, in front of the house, lay a figure sprawled out in the damp grass by the river. Bile rose in my throat as I got a sinking feeling that I knew whoever it was.

Pushing back the all too familiar chestnut colored hair from the clammy forehead, I stared into Stryker's face, which was contorted in pain. It was dark out here. He probably slipped coming to find me, but that didn't matter now. He needed help.

"Jae?" I call out to the fairy, who was perched on a dandelion.

"Yeah?"

"Did you wake up Dyana?"

"No." She scoffed, puzzled. "Why would I have done that?"

"Because she's a doctor!"

"Oooh, right. That would've been smart."

"Go!" I hissed. She streaked off quickly towards the house, disappearing in an instant.

Gnawing on the fingernails of one hand, I quickly reached out, pulling Stryker's gun from the holster on his belt loop and his hunting knife from where I instinctively knew it'd be hidden in his boot, just waiting for use.

Dyana appeared beside me. Her curly locks tangled and her eyes grave, she surveyed Stryker with a calculating eye, immediately making it known to me that his condition couldn't be good.

She shot up, her eyes wide as Stryker gasped, through obvious pain, one word.

"Ivory?"


	11. Chapter 11

**I should be working right now. Procrastination! Whooooooooo.**

**Anyways, my loserly-ness means another chapter.**

**Love it or else. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.**

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I immediately shoved aside the weapons I'd taken from him and knelt behind his head pulling into my lap as I checked his neck for a pulse. He seemed unaware that there were people around him again. He shouldn't know my name. Before this whole thing had started, Stryker warned me that, not only would he hate me, he wouldn't remember me.

My heart swelled as I stared down at his contorted expression. Some part of him was fighting this. It had to be! He was remembering my name, and his tone didn't carry any underlying hatred. He wasn't trying to hurt me. Of course, that wouldn't do much good if he slipped into a coma anyways.

I winced as I brushed more of his blood-matted hair away from a gash on his forehead. It didn't seem like too much blood to _me_, but he was incredibly pale and shuddering violently. I'm no doctor, but hey. I had to do _something_. I reached over Dyana and picked up the hunting knife, gingerly removing the cloth around the blade and plunging it into the icy rapids Stryker now lay parallel to. We'd had to move him to prevent the freezing water coursing around his ankles from throwing him into shock.

I wrung it out and started cleaning away the blood from his forehead.

"Careful, Ivory." Dyana warned.

She was watching him too, but with a guarded expression. Her leg muscles were coiled. I recognized the stance. She was unconsciously preparing herself to pounce if he went all Huntsman-mode on us again.

"Relax." I said complacently. "Look. He won't hurt you. He's not himself right now."

She eyed me, weighing whether or not to believe this.

"That may be, but it's not me I'm worried about."

We'd hardly met, but it was heartwarming to see how protective she was. She was like her own version of a Mama Bear. I smiled softly and went back to my task.

Suddenly, a hand reached up and took my own off of his head, moving it instead to his shoulder and weaving our fingers together. A pair of dark blue eyes stared into my own.

"Stryker." My eyes widened.

His face was still scrunched up in pain, and his breathing was still ragged; he still looked lifeless, but he was looking at me, and seeing me for me, not some princess he had to murder. Wanting to be sure, I stared at him intently, studying his face for a sign that he was faking it.

"Do you recognize me?" I asked slowly.

His eyes lit up considerably. "Are narwhals the very definition of awesome?" I laughed, but it was a weak, choked sound. The kind you get when you're trying not to cry.

"Oh wait. Shoot. That's wrong. I meant to ask if pandas were cool. Or maybe I was going to ask where guavas come from. They're a strange fruit, right? The green and red ones? Like Christmas? Ugh... I don't know. My head hurts."

I threw my arms around his neck. "What happened to you?"

He didn't answer.

"IVORY, GET BACK!" Dyana shouted.

I looked up at her in confusion, then stumbled back when I saw what was happening. Stryker's pupils were growing. Now they were so big that they'd just passed over all the color and were starting to expand into the rest of it. His shaking body jolted like he'd been hit with electricity.

I hadn't noticed, but Dyana and I were clutching each other's arms. Panic rose in the form of hysteria inside me. What was going on? Suddenly the black shrunk back to normal and he stood up, which should be impossible, as he looked, for all intents and purposes, like a hospital patient. In the coma ward.

With pale fingers, he reached for the knife I'd carelessly left by him.

"NO!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face. He couldn't just forget me again! I was so close to getting him back. So close...

"Pull yourself together, honey. I need you to run."

But I stood, rooted to the spot, staring at him. And so Dyana stood with me. I couldn't move. I didn't want to move. Not now, not ever again. If he was going to kill me, then he might as well get it over with. I was done with this. I didn't want to keep running, like a little lab rat, through these mazes that they'd set up for me. It was too painful to always decide between him and me. He was my best friend. He meant more to me than anyone ever had. Like I've said before: I'm a nobody. What difference would it make either way?

I stood, waiting for the blow with my eyes clenched shut.

But apparently, fate wouldn't have it that way, because a loud clanging rang through my ears, making my head pound. When I looked up, Stryker was face-down on the ground, while Dustin stood, frying pan in hand, grinning like an idiot

* * *

**I hope you've enjoyed my distraction as much as I have. Cue the awkward smiley face.**

**-Dictatorship**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sheesh. I feel so unloved. Three reviews, and two of them were from my friends that I brutally forced to read it. Tough crowd. Anyyyyyywwaaayyssss... READ IT. READ IT NOW.**

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Stryker was completely passed out now, lying on the ground as a welt like a baseball forming on the back of his head. I'd pressed my trembling fingers to my lips, refusing to let the tears fall.

Dustin had been worried when he heard us outside, so he had had everyone follow him as backup.

Aiden had his arm gently around me, while Bailey and Dustin were staring in awe at Stryker's wound with their other sisters standing above them. Meanwhile, Gabe was in a corner kicking a tree because, and I quote, "Ivory is just some dumb princess whose life _should_ be taken and I wanna go to bed, dang it."

"Shut up!" Harmony shouted at him, flashing me a bubblegum smile.

I smiled politely back before whipping my head around to keep staring at Stryker.

Dyana had rolled up the cuffs of his jeans and taken off his socks to prevent the wet clothes from giving him hypothermia. She'd been trying to get me back in bed for a while, along with everybody else, but had given up when Dustin raised his frying pan at her in a threatening manner.

Now Aiden moved towards her, along with a grumbling Gabe to help carry Stryker inside.

"Sabrina?" Dyana called.

The silver-eyed girl turned around.

"Make Ivory get back in bed."

I opened my mouth to protest, but was cut short. "No. Enough. He's in an unstable state, and you confuse him to the point of brain malfunction. If you go to bed now, I _might_ let you see him in the morning. Maybe, but it's the best chance you've got, so I would listen, _princess_."

Then she grinned innocently.

I may be royalty, but there's no question about who's in charge here.

I blew out the breath I'd been holding in for a while, eyes rolling upwards as I trudged forward. Sabrina awkwardly laid a hand on my shoulder, guiding me to the house. She left me at the door to my room, warning me to listen or I'd never get what I wanted.

She seemed a little shy, but was really sweet. We talked for a while, about music, sports, school. We shared a lot of the same interests, and I was grateful for her not-so-subtle attempt to distract me, but my tumultuous mess of a restless mind kept traveling back to Stryker.

Eventually, she saw that she wasn't helping at all and just left me alone. I closed the door to my room and leaned my head heavily against it, breathlessly fighting tears as I swallowed hard over the lump in my throat.

"He'll be okay, you know." A tinkling voice came in gently from behind me.

I turned to Jae and faked a thin smile.

"How do you know?" My voice came out thickly, but I was too stressed out to be surprised.

I rarely cried. In fact, I don't remember the last time I did, save for tonight. Needless to say, I was an emotional wreck.

"I checked on him next door. He's doing well enough for Dyana to leave him unattended. Get some sleep. He wouldn't want you to worry about him."

I smiled again, pushing back the covers. It was a long time before my heart quit racing, and I felt my eyelids flutter shut.

It was dark, sometime early in the morning, around two or three. At first, I looked around groggily, trying to figure out what had woken me up.

Shadows flickered around, but I couldn't make out any specific shapes until one was looming right above me.

Without thinking, I lashed out, but my wrist was caught by cold fingers, and I was pulled up into a sitting position.

Stryker smiled easily, fingering a knife. I didn't cry out. I couldn't. I'd lost my voice from fear. Instead, I let the tears finally burst out, flowing down my face as silent sobs racked my frame.

The grin slid off of his face, and he pushed the knife aside, pulling me into him and murmuring into my hair.

"No. It's okay, it's just me. Shhh. Calm down. It's alright."

I clung tightly to him, unable to speak, my breathing loud and jagged.

"Look," he said, handing me his knife. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I was just coming to give this to you because I thought it might be dangerous if I randomly changed back again."

He smiled, but there was definitely some pain concealed behind it.

"You can still change back and forth?" I found my voice. It was garbled, and my cheeks were still wet, but I'd managed to get myself slightly more under control.

"Yeah, but I'm trying to hold on to this form of me. At least then, I know what's happening."

His tone dropped. "It hurts."

"I'm sure." I reached out and put a hand on his forehead. It was hot.

"You should probably go get back in bed. You're doing well, but you could hurt yourself more. And..." I broke off.

He raised an eyebrow.

"And you're not supposed to be around me."

He frowned. "What fun would that be?"

"None at all." I admitted quietly.

"I'm glad we understand each other." He squeezed my hand, eyes bright despite his sickly pale skin.

He walked towards the door and peeked back in just before he closed it.

"And Ivory?"

I looked back over. "Yeah?"

"Whatever you do, do not _ever_ under _any_ circumstances accept an apple from me. Are we clear?"

I laughed, rolling my eyes. It was good to have my best friend back. I can only hope it'll last.

* * *

***whistles* OOOOOOHHHHH THE DRAMA. And yet, no one around here makes me popcorn. Rude muggles.**

* * *

**Reviews are a lot like popcorn, you know. Just saying.**

**-Dictatorship**


	13. Chapter 13

**I deeply apologize for calling you guys muggles. **

**...**

**Eh. Who am I kidding? IT WAS FABULOUS.**

**Anyways, here's the lovely chapter 13. Enjoy...*looks around for witnesses and begins to run away*...MUGGLES. **

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At around eight that morning, I walked slowly downstairs, attempting desperately to stifle the ridiculous grin on my face.

I strode up to the long table and took a seat next to Bailey, who blushed and directed her gaze to her plate. Dyana smacked a few toaster waffles down on my plate and slid me a glass of orange juice before taking a seat herself, shooting a pointed look at Gabe.

I turned around to look at him, too, but he just glared at me. The room had gone completely silent, with everyone staring at him but Bailey, who was still gazing at her plate.

I would've left, but that would mean leaving my food, and I was pretty hungry. Dyana and Gabe seemed to be locked in a private conversation.

Dyana raised her eyebrows at him, and he mouthed _not now_. Not now? What did that mean? I turned to Aiden, who was on my other side and opened my mouth. He quickly slapped a hand over it and shook his head, eyes wide. _Don't ask. You don't want to know_. He mouthed seriously.

Dustin cleared his throat and all eyes moved to him. "If you ladies are quite finished, I believe we have more pressing matters at hand."

"Which would be?" I asked hesitantly.

"Your training."

"My training?"

"Your training."

"What is it, exactly, that I'm training for?"

Gabe rubbed his temples and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

"You _really_ think that the queen is going to stop with that friend of yours? She's a psychopath that wants you dead. She's going to do anything in her power to kill you because she's a freaking demon in heels. So, you can either train to fight back and predict her every move, or you can sit back and let it happen. And let me tell you now, the second one isn't even an option because I have worked too God darn hard to let it end that way!"

I stared at him, blinking and rooted to the spot. That's around three to five times all of the words he's ever spoken to me combined.

Aiden blew out a breath, shoving away from the table and looping his arm through mine.

"Then let's begin, shall we?"

Everyone stood up and began to file after him. Everyone except for Dyana.

"Gabe. Stay back with me for a minute." I craned my neck to try to figure out what was going on. What can I say? Curiosity had gotten the best of me. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear a word.

I gently detached myself from Aiden, muttering something about going to the bathroom. He narrowed his eyes uncertainly, but let me go. Standing around the corner, I pressed my ear up against the wall, but, to my dismay, only managed to catch the last part of the conversation.

"I don't like it either, but that doesn't matter, now. She has to know."

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**And that's a wrap, people. Yes, I know. It's been a while and this is embarrassingly short, but I will have you know that it was for a good cause. So there.**

**-Dictatorship**


	14. Chapter 14

**I want it said that just, for the record, my absence was totally not my fault. I was at a cabin in Tahoe with no wifi and then I got back and had a lot of tests and finals are coming up and the world just sucks. As it is, I'm supposed to be writing an essay for ****_The House on Mango Street _****right now. Joy to the world. **

**Anyways, I felt guilty. So now that I'm done complaining/giving you excuses, read on.**

* * *

A hand much larger than my own laid itself lightly down on my shoulder.

I jumped and turned around to face Aiden, letting my hair fall down as a curtain between us.

"I was just-"

"I know." He interrupted with a crooked little smile. "Going to the bathroom, right?"

"I...I'm sorry."

"S'okay." He muttered under his breath.

Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, he steered me in the direction of the scuffed door. He winked and took a deep breath.

"I saw nothing. So, you think that boyfriend of yours could train us in knife throwing? I like knife throwing."

I smacked him upside the head, blushing to the tips of my ears.

"What?" He grumped.

"You know I'd rather work on shooting. I'd kick his sorry butt at knife training. Remember the Renaissance Faire from seventh grade?"

"Yeah." He laughed. "How could I forget? You pinned Gabe to a wall with a javelin!"

"I meant to hit the wall." I grumbled. "He got in my way. They really need to work on safety at that school."

Holding on to each other for support, Aiden and I stumbled through a few yards of trees to the left of the house until we reached a flat, sunlit clearing that the others had managed to beat us to.

Everyone but the two youngest stood waiting, making me feel awkward. Dustin sat on a low-hanging tree branch. Considering what a dope that kid is, I assume he thought he was 'supervising'.

Bailey sat partially hidden by the shade of the same tree, weaving daisies into a chain.

Gabe tossed something hard and black at my feet. I blinked.

"_What_ is _that_?"

"_That_, princess,"

I scowled.

"Is a gun."

"That is not a gun. That is a freaking sniper rifle."

"A Barrett M107, to be more specific." He smirked. "You're welcome."

He pulled me over to a little faded brick wall and knelt down, yanking me onto my knees and teaching me how to position the rifle, aim, and shoot.

I went through hours of learning every little aspect of every part of the gun, squinting and aiming until it made my head hurt, and spitting bullets into targets in the nearby trees.

After that, I got to do the same thing with a shotgun.

Then a little silver handgun.

Man, and I thought I hated Gabe before! The boy was a psychopath. And apparently one with an unhealthy obsession for firearms.

This portion of my training had taken so long that the sunset had begun to paint the blue sky with shades of fire that reflected off of the river. We all had to travel back in pairs, so we could avoid falling on the rocky surroundings.

Dyana and Aiden, Harmony and Sabrina, Dustin and Bailey, and, naturally, me and Gabe. Fantastic.

"You made my brain hurt." I whined bitterly, clutching his forearm as I slipped on yet another patch of moss that seemed to pop up everywhere. He exchanged a weary glance with Dyana and started to veer off of the cluttered path.

"It's about to start hurting a whole lot worse. Follow me."

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**Please, for the sake of my unfinished essay, review. I swear it's gonna eat me if you don't. Wait, what the boogers was th... AAAHHH**

**Ah, you know you love me. Just deal with it.**

**-Dictatorship**


	15. Chapter 15

A scowl set almost naturally into Gabe's tan face, he strode away from the others, leading me through twisted old paths that filled themselves with thorny branches. Nearly twenty minutes went by without either of us saying a word, and I fell deep into the uncomfortable silence.

So deep, in fact, that I nearly rammed right into the boy when he abruptly stopped walking.

He plopped himself down on a rock that seemed oddly out of place in the soft beds of pine needles. Asleep on my feet, I collapsed a safe distance from him and cocked an eyebrow, hoping this would go by fast.

"Have you not tortured me enough already?"

He snorted. "Not quite."

I sighed dramatically and slumped my shoulders, glaring up at him.

"Okay, well, this is going to be awkward, but Dyana says I've got to tell you, so..." He breathed deeply, flicking his eyes to mine. "Alright. So, you know how I sort of hate you?"

"Yeah." I scoffed. "I think I may remember that."

He smiled brightly, ignoring my sarcasm.

"Good. Well, that's -mainly- because I get visions."

He paused there for a moment, gauging my reaction.

"Oooooohh, visions. Take me to your leader, Galaxar." I mocked.

He just rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, in them, I seem to catch glimpses of the future. Most of the time, it just creates a puzzle that I have to figure out. Dyana has been studying this subject since I was adopted, trying to find a reason, or cure, or something. That's why she's always poring over so many medical books. Apparently, it's supposed to be a lapse in brain activity or whatever.

"Everything in my visions is somehow connected to you. It's pretty painful, which _may_ be why I'm always glaring at you. It seems to intensify when you're around."

"Kind of like my headache intensifies whenever you speak?"

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be Snow White, you are a really bad person."

"Shocking." I said dryly. "Is that it? Can I go to bed now?"

"Not yet. There's a lot I can't tell you, because... Just because. But, one thing I did figure out is that the queen is coming. And when your little boyfriend goes all Huntsman on us again..."

My heart sank.

"He won't come back. Looks like you'd better find a new Prince Charming."

* * *

**Short, but it's an important chapter that I hated writing because I get excited for the action. Ah, nerd girl problems. **

**-Dictatorship**


	16. Chapter 16

Setting my jaw, I turned on my heel and stared at the ground.

"You okay there, princess?" Gabe asked gently, laying a hand on the small of my back.

I tensed, fury coursing through me at his touch. My back straightened and my shoulders shoved back, leaving me as rigid as a statue.

"Prin-" He started again, but I cut him off, slamming his arm away from me.

"Stop calling me that! I'm not a flipping princess! I'm just some girl from off the streets! I don't matter to anyone, I'm not significant enough to be a fairy tale character. If that were even possible, which it can't be."

His expression flickered from shock to anger in a matter of seconds. In a low voice that made me fight a shiver, he growled,"Well, why wouldn't it be possible?"

"I . . . It-it just isn't!" I screamed. "It can't be. Stories are stories, that's all they were ever meant to be, and that's all they can ever become!"

He stepped a little further towards me. I recoiled back, the close proximity quickly melting part of my anger into fear.

Gabe was dangerous, and I knew it.

I should pick my fights a bit more carefully.

"Where do you think they come up with the stories, Ivory?" His voice was completely calm, his face blank. But his eyes were blazing. "Do you really think many people out there are clever enough to dream up this stuff on their own? This isn't the first time this has happened."

"No." I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut."

A psychotic laugh ripped through his throat. "No? You've relived this story over a thousand times throughout the course of history. You change a little more every time, but you never remember it. None of you do."

"NO!" I shout a little louder, clutching the tree behind me for support.

"But I remember it." He winced a little.

"I always remember everything."

My eyes widened slightly, but I shoved away and ducked under the arm he'd used to trap me there, pressing my hands together to stop the shaking.

"Stop it." I whisper, shaking my head.

He blinks, and when he opens his eyes again, the feral look is gone. Instead, they're wild and tinged so heavily with pain that I almost feel bad for him.

"Wait, Ivory. I-I'm sorry."

But by that time I was already gone, streaking towards the house, stopping only to pull myself back up when I slipped in the mud.

* * *

I lay on my bed for a long time after that, torn between the shocked numb feeling that comes with disbelief and anger.

I eventually decided on anger. It seems to solve more problems.

By the time Dyana called me for dinner, the night was black, and I was tracing absentminded patterns on the quilt.

"No." I called back.

She appeared in my doorway, forehead creased over her intelligent eyes. "You've got to eat SOMETHING."

"I'll eat when I get back." I lied blankly. "I'm going for a run."

I yanked on a pair of Sabrina's sneakers and brushed past her.

"It's raining." Aiden said quietly as I stormed to the door. I shrugged and threw it open, welcoming the frigid air because it was different than the choked feeling in my lungs.

I sprinted around in a few circles while I saw all of them watching me from the window. The cold made my eyes water and my fingers grow numb, the fat raindrops stinging my skin.

As soon as the dwarfs turned back to their dinner, satisfied that I was just running, I plunged into the thicket of trees. I ran with my muscles screaming in protest and pain curling in the pit of my stomach, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. I ignored the branches tearing into my flushed, numbing skin, my vision filled with red. I think I may have twisted my ankle, but I didn't stop to find out.

I ran until I toppled over a fallen tree. My breath scissored in and out quickly as I tried to calm myself down, getting dangerously close to hyperventilation. I drew my knees up to my chest, and let myself sit there, soaked to the bone until a voice broke through my hazy thoughts.

"Lost?"

"No." I spat, looking around wildly for the speaker.

Stryker was perched on a branch midway up the tree across from the one I was leaning on.

"No." I said again. "I'm fine."

He jumped down, landing almost silently on the balls of his feet and moving to stand above me, so that I was shielded from the few drops of rain that managed to pelt their way through the canopy.

"You're trying to get back out. To go back to your normal life."

It wasn't a question.

I avoided his eyes. "What makes you think that?"

His voice softened. "Because I know you." The corner of his mouth quirked  
up in a crooked little smile. "And you _hate_ running."

"Yeah, that sucked. A lot." I admit, still nearly panting like a dog.

"Why?" He whispers, his eyes tinged with pain. "Don't you get that, if you go back, she'll kill you?"

"No." I say, my voice rising. "Don't _you_ get that it's_ not real_?!" I stand up, my head almost smacking into his chin. "I'm going, and you can't stop me."

I walk away, but he catches my wrist. "Do you have some sort of death wish?" He demands.

"Mr. And Mrs. Shefferds have no idea where I am, Stryker. They probably think I ran away, or I'm dead, or-" His hand slides over my mouth.

"They don't even remember you. I'm sorry. If it helps, I-"

His head snaps up, and he narrows his eyes at something just above my shoulder, cursing under his breath.

Standing stock-still and barely breathing, I hear it too.

Somewhere behind me, a twig snaps.


	17. Chapter 17

"Run." Stryker hissed under his breath.

"I can't run!" I snapped back. "I just ran more than humanly possible. For all intents and purposes, I am dead."

"Shoot." He cursed, scraping his hair back out of his dark eyes.

"You run." I shrugged, turning and digging my fingers into the rough bark of the tree I'd been leaning on to try to scale up it.

"Ivory." He grumbled. "If it's human, it can still find you."

"Oh well."

"Shut _up_. You cannot get all stubborn on me now."

"Watch me." I smirked.

"Look, chances are, that's the queen. Or her new . . . assassin. What are you going to do then, huh?"

I waved my hand dramatically. "Then _the end_. You'd better go now."

He groaned and lifted me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

"Hey!" I protested.

"Shut up! Just shut up! You aren't sane right now."

"Am too." I grumped, rolling my eyes as he sprinted back to the house.

I have no idea whatsoever how he managed to find his way there. I was stuck bouncing lightly against his back and desperately straining my vision to catch a glimpse of our pursuer. Whatever it was remained completely invisible despite all the noise it made, which made it really scary.

When all the racket stopped, Stryker slowed down to a comfortable walk, humming lightly as I attempted futilely to get him to put me down.

"You're going to run right back into that trap. I'm not letting you go." He snorted infuriatingly.

The jerk didn't even seem winded.

I threw my fist down hard into his spine, making him wince. The humming faded into a _tsk_ing noise. "Well, that's really rude."

Glad to see he was still so scared for our lives.

"You're enjoying this way too much." I mumbled accusingly.

"Yep. It's fun."

"I hate you."

I could almost _feel_ his lips turn up into a smug little grin. "Liar."

"No no. It's true."

"Suuuuuure."

He kicked the door a couple of times and shifted me downwards and turned me around so my feet barely brushed the welcome mat.

Dyana opened it with a warm, motherly, yet somehow terrifying look on her face.

"Hello." I said awkwardly, squirming out of Stryker's restraining grip.

"That was _not_ a good idea, princess."

"No kidding. I can't feel my feet."

She just raised her eyebrows, completely unamused.

"Due to your inability to stay where you're safe, Stryker is now your personal bodyguard. You run, he catches you."

"But that's not fair!" I blurt before I even think about it.

Her eyes grow cold. "Neither is you ending this story. If you die, what do you think happens to our happily ever after? Or the future of your Prince Charming, for that matter?"

"I couldn't care less what happens to some prince." I grumble, shoving past her to reach the wooden stairs.

Stryker follows and perches on my windowsill as I drum my fingers, staring at the ceiling.

"Are you even _sane_ enough to be my little bullet monkey?"

He shrugs. "Saner than you, apparently."

"How so?"

"I'm homicidal, not suicidal."

Yeah, like that actually proved anything. Then he points to his eyes and back at me. "I'm watching you."

I blew out an exasperated breath and flopped back down onto my bed, my ebony curls fanning out all around me. Man, I hate fairy tales.

* * *

**Happy new year, people! To those of you still reading, thanks for sticking with this story (I know it can be hard sometimes) and please comment.**

**-Dictatorship**


	18. Chapter 18

A sharp pain in my ribcage wakes me up.

I soon find that it's because there's a foot lodged there.

Stryker's foot.

"What?" I moan, dragging out the word as I shove his foot away.

"Aiden wants to talk to you. Get up."

"Uuuuggghhh." I bury my face deeper into my pillow.

Suddenly, there's a clicking noise, right by my ear. "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty."

"A gun? Really?" The pillow muffles my slurred, sleepy words.

"Yes."

I stay silent for another moment, contemplating it. There are many cons to going to speak with Aiden. Staying here and sleeping as a way to ignore the world looks pretty good.

"Eh. You won't shoot. That really defeats the purpose of being a bodyguard."

"IVORY, GET YOUR BUTT UP!" Dustin screams from my doorway.

"Jesus!" I curse, falling off of my bed and stumbling drowsily after the kid. He runs away from me, slipping under Aiden at the last moment.

"Darn you, child." I mumble.

"Hey." The teenager in front of me grins. I give a halfhearted one back. "So, look. It's coal-mining Monday, and we're all needed down at the mines. You and Stryker are going to be here alone."

His brow furrows. "He should... He should be enough to protect you, but be careful, alright? Gabe's been shut up in his room these past couple of days because he's been having visions that he can't really make sense of, but they're bad. Really bad."

I stare at him blandly. "This is why you had your little minions wake me up? You couldn't have left me a note on the refrigerator or something?"

"Ivory, I'm serious."

"So am I. I'll even buy you some Post-its for Christmas."

He blows out a long breath and gently tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. I smack his hand away.

"Promise me you'll be careful?"

I feel my eyes soften. For whatever reason, these people really do have my best interest at heart. "I promise." I squeeze his hand. "Now go have fun with your pickaxe."

I yawn and throw a hoodie over my t-shirt and jeans that I had slept in after yet another failed escape attempt last night. Don't get me wrong, I love these people like family, but _Snow_ flipping _White_? They belong in the loony bin.

"Everything okay?" Stryker asks, watching me carefully.

"Fine." I respond, trying not to burn myself on the toaster. "Can I go for a walk?"

"No."

"Well, what _can_ I do?"

"Watch reruns of _The Simpsons_ or something while I keep watch."

"I swear, Stryker. It's like I'm on house arrest."

"You are."

After only this little time stuck in this remote home in the woods, I had cabin fever. Everything to do has been done before, and I'm not allowed to do anything fun.

Dyana told Stryker to not even let me climb up to the roof. She thought of everything! I've spent hours trying to find a loophole in Stryker's orders, but he's like a soldier. Everything I think of has already been accounted for, and he stands firmly by what he's been told.

And I can't stand it.

I can feel myself going insane. I even started to have unrealistic thoughts about talking bacon.

Maybe that's why, when the doorbell rang, I didn't give it a second thought. I was too excited.

I leapt up from the fading brown couch and started to run for the door, only to have an arm bar my way. Stryker calmly took a sip of coffee. "Gun."

I scowl at him. "If I pull a gun on whoever's at the door, they'll run away screaming."

"Then they're boring wimps we don't want to talk to, anyways."

I roll my eyes, but can't stop a grin from spreading across my face as I grab my tiny little snub nose revolver (they can be hidden really easily) and toss my best friend the shotgun.

We move towards the door silently and I kick it open with my foot.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

A fat, balding man backs up off of the step with his hands up, giving quite an unpleasant view of the sweat soaking the underarms of his too tight business suit. His beady black eyes widen a little. "Whoa! I'm just a vendor. I'm going around trying to sell things!" He has a thick Italian accent.

My voice goes cold. "Prove it. Got a license?"

Bushy eyebrows shoot way up. "You need a license for one of these jobs?"

Behind me, I hear Stryker click off the safety on his gun.

"I don't know, but if you really were a door-to-door salesman, you would."

I take aim, but the fat guy in the business suit is already gone. In his place stands my former neighbor. A diamond crown adorns her perfectly coiled chestnut hair that has been twisted into some sort of elaborate updo. White powder surrounds her caramel eyes so that they almost look frosted over, with little white gems in the corners, and she wears a v-neck short red dress and a long gray coat around it.

"Morning, children." She greets smoothly. "Son, I must say that I disapprove of the company you're keeping."

He scoffs at her from behind me.

"No matter," her voice takes on an ominous tone. "It will all be over soon."

Suddenly Stryker's breathing goes heavier, and he grasps my shoulder to keep himself upright. I drop the revolver-probably not my best idea-and wrap my arms around him for support.

"You monster!" I gasp out. "What are you doing to him?!"

"Only what's necessary," she chimes in a singsong voice. A cold hand yanks me backwards and a gun clicks against my temple for the second time that morning.

Stryker's struggle to keep himself up fails and he slumps over on the doorstep, clutching his head. I try to reach for him, but the gun hits me upside the head, drawing blood and my arm is twisted back painfully.

The blood is warm and starts to mat my hair to the nape of my neck. I refuse to wince, kicking and clawing at my attackers.

One of them cringe away from me, giving me the slightest bit of satisfaction as I'm dragged backwards into a helicopter with a bag placed over my head.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey, guys. I am so sorry this took so long. I saw the few comments left and they made me want to update right away. Unfortunately, immediately afterwards, I was somewhere with no wifi for a long time, but thanks so much to ilikemutemath and phoenixcurse. You guys are the only reviewers I've had since November. *Claps dramatically***  
**Anyways, here's the new chapter.**

I came to feeling sore all over.

My neck felt stiff and ached, and I knew that I hadn't exactly been given a pillow in that helicopter. My hands were bound by rope that scratched against my red wrists. The same rope was tied around my ankles, and I was lying sideways against the cold cement. I tried to shift around, but the binds made it nearly impossible to do anything but stare at the grey slab of ground, my eyelashes brushing gently against it with every blink.

I was cold and my throat burned from lack of water. I knew my head would start throbbing if I didn't get any soon, and I wouldn't last much longer after that.

A low moan of pain came from somewhere to my right. I turned as much as possible and found myself staring into dark blue eyes, swirling with confusion. So I wasn't the only one they wanted.

Great.

"Hey." Stryker croaked.

"Hi. Do we have an escape plan?" I managed to hack out.

"Nope." He popped the p.

"Then what do we do?"

"We wait here like good children and do as we're told until we see a window of escape."

"I think that's techni-"

The heavy steel door facing us creaks open, abruptly cutting off our conversation. From my angle, all I can see are eight brown wooden pole-like things and a pair of laced black leather boots.

There's a gentle thudding noise on either side of me, and the click of a gun against my temple as my bonds are slit. A man roughly hoists my arm up and shoves me into a chair.

Black spots cloud my vision from the sudden downward rush of blood, and before I know it, I'm trapped again. The ropes on my ankle remain, but a handcuff links my wrist to Stryker's through bars on the back of the chair too thick to get through. His other one is handcuffed to his chair, but mine stays free.

Our chairs are strapped together-probably so we can't smash them and get out without beating each other to a pulp- and an old version of a Nokia was placed into my free hand, another rope tied around me in such a way that made it impossible to reach any of my restraints, even if I let go of that phone.

"Ivory Woods, don't you dare let that fall through your fingers. It's a flipping Nokia. They are indestructible. If that falls, the very Earth will crack and swallow us all."

I attempt desperately to wipe my sweaty palm off on my jeans. "How can you be making jokes at a time like this?" I squeeze the phone a little tighter and shut my eyes.

His fingertips graze my back lightly through the bars.

"It's better than panicking."

"I'm not panicking!" I snap defensively.

"Breathe. It's fine. Everything will be okay."

"Since when are you the optimist?"

"I'm not. Never will be. I'm just better at understanding people than you are."

I blow out a breath through my nose and tilt my head back until it leans against his. "What do you think the phone's for? There's already a number punched in..."

"Call it." He shrugs. "We've got nothing to lose anyways."

I press the talk button and hold the cell phone to my ear.

A very familiar, sneering voice clicks on after the first ring.

"Hey, kid. Took you long enough."

"Jesus." Stryker curses under his breath.

My blood runs cold.


	20. Chapter 20

"Brock." I snarl into the Nokia.

Wasn't it bad enough that that sick monster was the one who got me into this mess? Now he was bugging me here, of all places.

I must've said as much aloud, because he answered.

"No, the fairy tale was already going to happen. I warned you about it. If it had gone as planned, you wouldn't remember any of that, anyways. But, I can make it all a whole lot worse if you don't do exactly as I say."

"Why would I do anything for you?"

"Because I have someone you care about." He taunted.

Stryker snorted. "I thought the queen was the one who was holding us?"

"Oh, she was. But she's very susceptible to briberies involving money. Her only condition was that I take the two of you out of her kingdom for a very, very long time. Believe me, I'd be more than happy to do that for her."

"Who do you have?" I grind out, rocking our bundle of chairs backwards when Stryker tries to say something else, probably something condescending.

"Talk to her yourself." There's a fumbling noise in the background.

"Ivory." Whispers a little girl voice. Bailey. She's choking back tears, and I can almost picture the sobs racking her little shoulders as the teardrops blur her freckles. "I'm scared."

That's more than she'd said the entire time I'd known her. The poor girl must be petrified. "I know, sweetie." I clench my fist. "I'm going to get you out of there. I promise. Are you the only one he has?"

She sniffles a little. "Ye-"

But the fumbling noise comes back.

"Ah ah ah." Brock scolds. I didn't say you could ask my hostage questions."

"She is seven years old! Let her go, you sadistic maniac!"

"I'm afraid that only you can make that happen."

"Fine." I groan. "What is it that you want from me?"

"I guess you'll find out, won't you? 3654 Hemingway Drive. You have two days, or the girl... gets acquainted with my gun."

"If you harm a single hair on that kid's head, I swear to God, I will find you and I will kill you with my bare hands."

But he's already hung up, and the dial tone drowns out all of my words.

I let out a stream of colorful words and slam my bound feet against the ground. "Two days, Stryker. We have two days to walk who _knows_ how far and rescue a _first grader_ before that man goes and slits her throat."

"Ivory..."

"God, and it's all my fault, too! I'm the reason they took her. I may not know why, but-"

"Ivory."

"How am I supposed to tell Aiden and Dyana? And Dustin! She's his twin, for crying out loud. They're probably worried sick! If she dies, I don't know how I'll go on living, just knowing every single day that I let a _baby_ die. Not just anyone, either. Someone I cared about."

"Ivory!"

"I don't know what to do, Stryker." I whisper softly.

His voice takes on a gentler tone. "I know, but it has to start with us getting out of here. I managed to get my knife out. Can you reach it?"

I drop the phone and strain my free arm, twisting it around until I feel the smooth, carved wood of the hilt against my middle and forefingers.

I freeze as a sudden thought occurs to me.

"I thought they checked you for weapons?"

"Oh." He says uncomfortably. "They did."

I frown.

"Where was it?"

"You don't want to know. Cut your feet."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Great. My feet are free. Fat lot of good that'll do us."

He groans in frustration and speaks as if he's talking to a very small child. "Use the tip to pick the lock."

"Well, SORRY if I'm not exactly thinking right now."

He shrugs. "That's why you need me. You panic, I think."

I move over to his side and stop a moment, looking into his eyes, so dark they're almost black. The overhanging lightbulb glints off his chestnut hair that's falling precariously into them. "I never thought if be so happy to see your ugly face."

He smirks like he knows something I don't. "Just shut up and get me out of this thing."

He yanks out his sore wrist and grabs my forearm, picking the lock on the cell. We sprint out of a backdoor and hit the ground running before anyone notices that we're gone.

I stop as soon as we're out of sight and lean in a little closer.

"What do we do now?"

He gives me a strange look and cocks his head to the side.

"Do you smell tacos?"

"Wha-? I... Yes, but there's no time for food."

"There is _always_ time for food." He says dubiously.

Twenty bucks and six tacos later in a shabby little hut that probably doesn't even use real meat, and I'm about ready to strangle the boy.

"Relax." He winks at me. "We need a couple hours to build up our forces anyways."

"Why?!"

"We can't just go in there, guns ablaze and take Bailey back. They'll kill her first. This is a sensitive situation. We need backup."

"How do you propose we get backup?"

His smirk dissolves. "I know a guy."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUNNNN.**


	21. Chapter 21

**So, after an excessive amount of ****_Psych _****episodes and boring homework, I decided to update my story! Woot woot. **

* * *

This 'guy' Stryker knew turned out to be a total and complete jerk. Not only that, but he was an idiot, too.

And sexist.

The first thing he did when I came in was wolf whistle. _Wolf whistle_.

Stryker actually had to physically restrain me from tearing his vocal cords out through his nose.

"Why don't you wait outside?" He whispered into my hair. "I'll deal with him." I nod slowly and slam my way out the front door.

The house is a large white mansion covered with elaborate designs and balconies. It's really quite pretty, if a bit palatial.

Stryker stomps out a few minutes later, his arms crossed across his chest and his mouth turned down slightly at the edges. He jerks his head to the side.

"Let's go."

I don't move from my spot, leaning deeper into the wall. "What about your 'backup'?"

"They're gonna go now. We're meeting them at a certain point."

"Well, where are we going?"

"To get the...dwarves."

I wrinkle my nose. "We _have_ to tell them? I don't really want them to know that it's all my fault."

"She's their sister. They do have a right to know."

I open my mouth to make up some excuses, but Stryker's acquaintance chooses that moment to walk out of that castle of a building with several large groups of black-clad soldiers on his heels.

One group had sniper rifles, one had pistols, one had knifes, one smaller one had a grenade. There was even a group without anything at all. I assumed they were either surveillance or hand-to-hand combat.

"You know, Venator, the girl can stay with us. We'd be more than happy to take her." He drums his long fingers against his thigh, watching me with cold, observant eyes. He reminded me of a snake.

"Right, then. Let's go, Stryker." I shoved off of the wall and hurried to get myself out of there.

We stumbled through the familiar pathway for nearly an hour in complete silence. His lips had pressed themselves together into a thin, hard white line, never once opening. By the time I finally opened MY mouth to try and say something, it was hoarse from lack of use and we'd almost reached the river.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

He's so surprised by my voice after all this time that he almost slips on a damp pile of leaves. "Huh?"

"The guy that supplied me with my own personal army. I mean, I know he's a rude, sexist pig, but you're letting something with deeper roots get to you. If he were just some regular old guy, you wouldn't _still_ be acting this way. Who is he?"

His chest heaves with a deep breath. "My brother."

I let go of his hand that I was using to stabilize myself. Stryker's furrowing his eyebrows, trying to gauge my reaction.

"But you don't have a brother." I pointed out.

"In this world, I do. Remember Jason from English class?"

I nod.

"That's him."

"But...how?"

"Apparently, I was brutally trained as a huntsman while he was commander in Mommy Dear's army."

I smirked. "Wow, favoritism much?"

He socked me lightly in the arm. "Anyways, he's the reason I wound up passed out by the river in front of the house. He's a jerk, but he's fair and he owes me a couple favors. Though, I'm not sure he would've agreed to come if you weren't going to be there."

I fake a gag and make an attempt at hopping over the rocks to get across the water.

He's standing behind me, mouth slightly opened as if he wanted to say more.

"Coming?" I ask gently.

He shakes his head, the shaggy hair falling into his eyes.

"Yeah, I... Yeah."

I cock an eyebrow, but continue on my way. I knock on the door.

Dustin throws it open and runs at me, snaking his skinny little arms around my waist.

"You're okay!" He slurs.

He's lost another tooth.

A pang of guilt hits my heart. Oh, Bailey.

Aiden is right behind the kid, lifting me up and spinning me around while Stryker watches with an amused expression on his face.

"Where have you been?! Is Bailey with you?" He looks over my shoulder, scowling protectively. "Why were you two off alone together?"

"We were kidnapped." I state matter-of-factly. "Don't worry about that."

Then I start to gnaw on my lower lip. "Some guys took Bailey. If we don't get in there by sundown the day after tomorrow, they'll kill her."

Aiden's face grows pale and my stomach sinks. It's better if he doesn't know the truth, isn't it?

"Get whatever and whoever you need. We leave in ten minutes."

He nods, trusting me completely, and rushes back through the door. I can hear him banging around in there. I sink back to where Stryker was waiting. His dark eyes are fixed carefully on me.

"What?" I demand uncomfortably.

"You're thinking about just turning yourself in instead of busting her out and running." He accuses. It isn't a question.

"Yeah, so?" I deadpan. "It'll ensure Bailey's safety, so what does it matter?"

"It's not happening." He growls.

I shrug. "No promises."

He rolls his eyes, and Aiden walks out, Sabrina and Gabe in tow. "Let's go get Bailey."

My stomach twists as I think about what I'm about to do.

"Okay." I murmur hollowly. "Let's go."


	22. Chapter 22

**Been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for that. **

**CUE A FEW OF THE EXCUSES:**

**-I was on a cruise with no internet access**

**-I've developed an addiction to ****_Psych. _****I have a problem.**

**-I had to finish a book fatter than my head to prove that I could read it faster than someone else. (I won. Bleep yes.)**

**Sooooooo, here it is. **

* * *

We all met up with Stryker's brother/arch nemesis relatively close to 3654 Hemingway Drive, my guess is to minimize the time we had to spend with the weasel.

It was about a 15 minute walk from our campsite to the house, which was practically a castle, like everything seemed to be lately. We'd made it with a day to spare, but our only advantage was that they didn't know when we were coming.

I'm sharing a tent with Sabrina, who's really sweet, despite all the sneezing, but is completely ineffective at calming my nerves, especially when she sneezes in her sleep... Even if it is sort of funny.

I sit up on my knees and crawl out of my sleeping bag, silently unzipping the door and tiptoeing out to a couple of logs around the fire. There's already a dark shadow of a figure outlined there against the light, standing guard. I sat down next to him and tried to ignore the stinging sensation the smoke was causing behind my eyes.

There was silence for a long time, because the only thing talking could do between us was make things more awkward. I think about telling him my plan, asking him if he's seen this before, or if he knows this ending; if I'll be okay, and if Bailey will. His eyes, black as midnight, gleam behind his shiny light brown hair. There are dark rings under his eyes, and his usually olive-toned skin is a pale white. Something must be keeping him up.

I frown sympathetically. It must be hard, knowing everything that's about to happen, but not being able to do a thing about it. Maybe I was a bit harsh on him. He did have every right to be grumpy.

"Gabe." I start softly. He turns to me, barely keeping his eyes open. He's running on pure adrenaline.

The question flies out of my head. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." He rolls his eyes. "You're going to be fine, too. Just...don't turn yourself in."

I stare at him. "Stryker told you to say that."

"That may be, but it's still true." He shrugs and puts his fingers to his head in a dramatic, psychic-like way. "I can see it."

I breathe out a huge breath through my mouth. "So, this has actually happened before? I'm not the first one?"

"Unfortunately, you're wrong on that part. I'm afraid you screwed up. Massively. I mean, I'm not even sure what you did."

I nod. "That's great, and you're still willing to bet Bailey's life on me not trading myself for her and letting some group of people I KNOW you don't trust storm the place that they're keeping her with guns?"

"Yeah."

"You're crazy."

"But do you trust me?"

I gnaw on my lower lip. "I guess so, but you'd better not be wrong. If Bailey doesn't make it out of this alive, it's on your head."

He grinned and shook my hand, and suddenly there was an ominous ringing that sounded horribly familiar.

It was coming from Stryker's tent.

With a growing sense of dread, I pulled down the zipper and knelt in the entryway. He was already sitting up in his sleeping bag, holding out the little Nokia.

"You kept it?!" I growled.

"We may have needed it!" He responded defensively.

I rub my forehead and grab the phone from him, punching the talk button.

"You made the wrong decision, kid." A voice singsongs in my ear.

"Brock." I mutter. "Where are you?"

"Why, what ever do you mean, Ivory?"

"I know you're here, watching from somewhere. Come out- we can make a deal or something."

"Nope. I'm afraid you broke the deal we already had."

"Technically, I've only plotted to break it."

"Big mistake." The line went dead.

A few colorful words escaped my mouth.

"EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" I screamed, going around and whacking tents. "WE HAVE TO GO, NOW!"

The ground around us shook, the heat from the fire seared my skin, burning way hotter than it should have been able to. An especially violent shake threw me sideways like a rag doll, where I would've snapped my neck if Stryker hadn't already been there to block my fall.

Everything grew more and more turbulent by the second, and the last thing I remember before blacking out from the pain was a burning sensation on the inside of my wrist, and that the skin that BG was branded into was red and raw, like it had just happened.

* * *

**Did you feel like it was rushed? I do...even though I wasn't rushing. Maybe I'm sick. Does that seem like a good enough excuse?**

**Because I feel bad for my stupidly busy schedule keeping me from updating for so long, if I get at least three comments by midnight tonight, I'll write/post another chapter tomorrow. Sound good?**

**-Dictatorship**


	23. Chapter 23

"Wake up." A familiar voice whispered. A cool hand gently tapped my cheek and felt my forehead. "Ivory, wake up!"

I opened my eyes, but they drooped back closed almost immediately.

"Where are we? What happened?" I croaked groggily.

"Uh... a tornado, I think. It could've been a twister... Maybe some bombs?"

"Ugh." I moaned, propping myself up on one of my forearms. My other one felt too heavy to move.

"Stryker, what's wrong with my arm?"

He knelt behind me and helped me sit up, so I was leaning against his chest. He put one hand gently under the outside of my wrist and drew it in to rest against my stomach, peeling off the soiled, bloody gauze that had been applying so much pressure to alleviate the pain that it had gone numb.

It throbbed now, openly and painfully.

I sucked in a sharp breath as he just barely ran his thumb over the red, blistering flesh. He cleared his throat a little.

"We didn't know at first, but Gabe said that this had never happened before. He got really angry, said you were disturbing the balance of things. Then he started gripping his head and chanting that this wasn't supposed to happen, that it couldn't happen. That was when another series of shakes hit. When we got up, he was gone."

"Well." I stated. "That sucks. He was probably our only shot at getting out of this alive."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's the truth."

"God, you are such a pessimist sometimes."

"Oh, like you're any better."

"I never claimed to be."

A pale, decidedly feminine hand reached out to me, two little pills lying in the palm. Her other one held a big bottle of water.

"Thanks." I murmur, my eyes glued to the retracting wrist rather than the unfamiliar face.

Instead of the BG causing me so much pain on mine, she had a WD in easily recognizable writing.

"No problem." She averted her kind blue eyes and turned around to get me some more gauze from the industrial sized first aid kit in the corner.

I narrowed my eyes, zeroing in on the hand tucking back perfect light brown curls, twisted elaborately out of her face in a little blue bow. She couldn't have been much older than me.

Why did she seem familiar?

"Quick question: where are we?"

Stryker grins at me. "Bomb shelter in London."

"London? As in London, England?"

"Yes, I do believe that was implied by me saying London."

"Right." I agreed, my voice getting slightly higher. "And who's that?"

"Aw, come on, Ives. Didn't you have any childhood at all? It's Wendy!"

"As in, like, Peter Pan Wendy?"

"Okay, I know you're injured, but really? Try to keep up here."

"No no no. This isn't possible. There aren't supposed to be any bombs! That doesn't happen until the second movie!"

He took my water bottle out of my hand and took a swig. "Well, I guess you're just screwing everything up then, aren't you?"

I yanked the bottle back, scowling. "That isn't funny."

"No, what's funny is that I got stuck with such a failure. I'm supposed to be a royal huntsman, and I was really good at my job."

"Then why aren't I dead yet? Besides, it was your plan that got us into this mess."

"Ah, yes. But you didn't have to agree to it."

I swatted him, finally finding the strength to sit up on my own.

"Where is everyone else?"

He sighs. "Well, Aiden and I got tired of taking turns carrying you, especially with all of the shaking, so I volunteered to find us some shelter. I met Wendy and she took us in, but the others wanted to find shelter further down along the road, to see if it might be safer. Plus, they might have been afraid of the freaking _legend_ of Peter Pan we get to witness unfolding before us."

I laughed, but it quickly turned into more of a cough.

Peter Pan had been his favorite movie when we used to have Disney marathons at my house as kids. He'd always look at me and tell me that it was just like us, that we would stay young forever and fight crocodiles with magic.

It was a bit far-fetched, and I had known it, but I would have wooden sword fights with him anyways, calling him a codfish while he yelled right back at me.

Wendy stared blankly at us, sitting cross legged with the forgotten gauze laying on the knee of her blue nightgown.

I coughed awkwardly and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll all make sense after a ginger shows up and asks you to sew his shadow back onto his feet. You will then share a thimble."

She wrinkled her nose, the skin under the few pale freckles on her cheeks growing pink. "What?"

"She's delirious. The pain meds haven't kicked in yet." Stryker interrupted, wrapping my wrist back up with the gauze.

I smacked him upside the head. "Am not!" Then I pulled a Gabe and put my fingers dramatically to my forehead. "I can see the future."

"Don't worry about it, Wendy. You should get some sleep. I'll take care of this psych-"

I glared at him, daring him to complete that word, to say I was crazy.

"Ic." He finishes. "Psychic."

"Okay." She frowned again and pointed to me. "She's weird." Her British accent was very prominent in those words as she turned and walked to the twin bed around the corner of our spacious shelter.

"That's hurtful." I muttered.

"Hey, Stryker?"

Already on his way to blow out the candle illuminating the room, he turned back. "Yeah?"

"What do you think the WD on her wrist means?"

He blew out a deep breath. "Walt Disney. I think it means that she gets a happy ending."

My voice became a lot smaller, and I sounded young, scared. "Do any of the Brothers Grimm stories have happy endings?"

He tried to smile at me, but it was a weak attempt, and the ever-present sparkle in his eyes was gone.

"I don't think so."

He slipped a pillow under my head and a blanket over my shoulders before he laid down on the opposite side of the room, plunging us into darkness while the sounds of the shaking and screaming continued to faintly drift into the bomb shelter.

"Goodnight."

"Night." I whisper back.

It was nice to know that I had been doomed to a life of sadness since before I was born.

* * *

**Like it? Hate it? Hate ****_me_****? You wouldn't be the first, and I take pride in that. **

**You can let me know by reviewing. **

**-Dictatorship**


	24. Chapter 24

**I'm baaaaaccckkk. **

**With another chapter. Mainly because I'm all hyped up on sugar.**

** So, I'm gonna apologize in advance for that...**

* * *

When I woke up, I had a brief panic attack before I remembered where I was. I mean a serious panic attack. I even fell backwards a little bit... while sitting up.

"How's it going, stupid?" Stryker glanced back at me, a half eaten toaster waffle in his hand.

I put my right hand up to my face, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Right, bomb shelter. Little kid kidnapped by psychotic man. I'm fantastic."

There was something different, though- something I couldn't quite place. Something was missing...

"Here." Wendy said, holding out more painkillers. "The last ones would've worn off by now."

"I'm fine." I mumble, shaking my head. "I feel better now."

She shrugs and hands over a plate with a small stack of waffles, some bacon, and a chunk of pineapple. I wolfed it all down in a matter of minutes and stealthily tried to steal the bacon off of Stryker's plate.

"I'm still a huntsman." He said, lifting his dark blue eyes to meet my brown ones. "If you try it, I swear I will cut your hand off."

"You'll feel a lot better about life if you let me have it." I insist, trying again.

He pulled out a still-sheathed dagger and waved it threateningly in front of my nose.

Wendy stifled a polite little laugh and put some more on the propane gas stove.

The crackling and sizzling noise drew my attention to something. It was silent, _completely_ silent. The bombs or whatever had stopped.

I put a hand on Stryker's arm and pointed upwards.

He just smirked at me. "We've known that for three hours, now."

I frowned. "What? How?"

"The sudden lack of noise woke us both up." He patted my cheek mockingly. "You sleep like the dead."

I shrugged. "Given the circumstances, that's probably a good thing."

Wendy hands me some more bacon on a plate, and I sit down cross-legged on the floor to eat with one hand, and attempt to twist my tangled mass of curls back into something even slightly resembling a ponytail or bun with the other. Once I had finished, I stood up and pulled my clothes back into place, brushing off the dust that had come with sleeping on the floor.

"Oh, do you need help with anything?" Wendy questioned hesitantly. "I _told_ him that you guys didn't have to sleep on the floor, but he wouldn't take the bottom bunk, and he said that you wouldn't want to either."

"No, that's okay. Thank you, though."

She nods and turns back into the little side room, probably to pack up her stuff and get out of this cold little hole in the ground.

"You're a jerk." I accuse, slapping Stryker's arm. "How could you just let an injured person sleep on the floor?!"

"Yeah, I was going to carry you even _further_." He smirks, and then gestures to my hoodie laying on the floor next to my pillow. "You'd better pack up your things. Even if we can't find Gabe or Bailey, I'll bet Aiden and the sisters he has with him are worried sick about you."

I rolled my eyes and pulled it on, poking my thumbs through the holes in the sleeves. "You'd be willing to miss the legendary initial visit to Neverland to make sure Aiden isn't going out of his mind?"

"Of course not." He snorts dubiously. "I fully intend to be back, hiding stalkerishly in the nursery of her house in two weeks, eight hours, fifty eight minutes, and 7 seconds. I'm only leaving now because _somebody_ has to keep an eye on you"

"Oh yeah, because _I'm _the one who needs watching. It's completely normal that you're planning to sneak into this kid's house"

"Please, Ivory." He scoffs, ruffling my hair. A bunch of little black curls fall out of the knot I had them in. "It's the sign of a true fan."

"You need therapy. Where are her parents and Joseph or whatever?"

"George, Mary, Nana, John, and Michael Darling?"

"Yeah, them."

"She says they're safe. I hope you didn't inadvertently kill them and ruin this story, too."

"I hate you."

He grins. "You love me. Hey, Wendy?"

"Yes?" She asks, peering around the corner.

"We're going to go now."

"Okay, good luck."

He yanks out a bolt and shoves his arms upward repeatedly until the doors open. He climbs up the ladder and reaches back down to help me haul myself out.

My stomach plummets when my eyes meet the wreckage.

There are tiny fires scattered about, houses falling in a dilapidated way towards the ground, and broken glass littering the areas that weren't already covered with shingles or gutters. There was even a huge tree laying across the street.

I cover my mouth with my trembling fingers. I did this. It's my fault. All of it.

A gust of icy wind shoves my hair back as the first tears start streaming down my face.

"What have I done?" I whisper, choking on my words. "How many more lives do I have to ruin before I start figuring out what to do?!"

I kick a piece of roofing with all of my strength, and it hits the house with cracks through the plaster on the other side of the road with a little tink.

A stray cat mews quietly, rubbing up against my leg. I kneel down, numb to the glass cutting holes in my knees, and stroke the grimy fur. It walks away after a while.

I'm the reason that cat has no home, too. I don't even _like_ cats, but still!

My shoulders begin to shake, and I drop my head into my hands, refusing to let a sound out. The tears run freely, soaking the ratty fabric that covers my palms from the cold.

Stryker takes my hand in his and helps me stand, letting me bury my face in his side. He doesn't try to console me; to tell me that it will all be okay, because he knows that won't work, and that it isn't true.

He just puts a warm, gentle hand on the small of my back, and leads me away.

* * *

**Well, wasn't that depressing? HAHAHAHAHA SHE'S A FAILURE! WHOOOOOOO.**

**I have problems.**

_**Yes, yes you do.**_

**Shut****_ up_****, voices! Not in front of the reviewers!**

* * *

**REVIEW.**

**-Dictatorship**


	25. Chapter 25

_**Two **_**reviews last chapter. Not bad. It did take me a while to finish writing this, though. In my defense, I had no wifi. **

**Hehe.**

***runs away***

* * *

Every few blocks we walked, Stryker and I seemed to find ourselves in a new, completely different and unfamiliar area. It was like the shakes had tossed all the stories around like rag dolls until they formed a jumbled, messy beast of a thing straight out of a badly written fantasy novel.

Eventually, I came to my senses and could walk/function on my own because I knew that laying around and sobbing my eyes out like a wuss wouldn't fix a thing. Stryker still kept a hand either on my shoulder, my arm, or the small of my back at all times, though. I think that he's convinced himself that he can hold me together by doing that, and I let him, because I know this is his way of dealing with things.

Suddenly, a pale hand closes around my wrist and yanks me hard to the right. My side crashes through the demolished bottom part of a building, bringing the rest of my body tumbling after into a bunch of stacked crates. They topple down on me, one covering my eyes so that I can't see my assailant.

My heart pounds frantically, and I can feel my pulse on my aching side. I get ready to shove off the crate and attack, but a tiny, delicate little sneeze stops me in my tracks. I slowly unmask my eyes, taking in the long, slender fingers covering the giggling mouth of my own customized version of Sneezy.

"Sorry." She stumbles over the word because of her laughter.

Stryker chuckles and swings an arm around her, ruffling her perfect caramel waves.

"S'okay, Sabrina. Where's everyone else?"

"Well, Aiden and Stryker's army of idiots are down the street a little ways. I was just out for a walk and thought I saw something in here. It must've been a trick of the light. I don't see anything now."

"Was it this?" Stryker asked, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

He holds a little silver charm, the chain it's attached to dangling between his fingers. My hand reaches up to my neck out of habit, trying to snatch at something that's not there.

He'd given me the necklace when I turned twelve. I'd never been one for jewelry, but I never took that thing off. For some reason, I always felt that the twisted, gnarled silver tree suited me.

It had disappeared during the change.

"I had this." Stryker states, scowling in confusion. "When I was still all brainwashed by the queen. I remember looking at it and wondering where it came from and why it was there. She caught me playing with it and confiscated it from me. How could it have gotten here?"

He moves behind me and clasps the necklace up a few notches so that it rests against the skin just below my collarbone. I reach up and trace my finger over the familiar grooves. If you look closely enough, there's a little I and an even smaller W formed by the twisted branches.

"Do you think it was left as some sort of message?" Sabrina questions, silver eyes squinting with concentration.

I wrinkle my nose, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. A thought hits me, and I suck in air through my teeth. "We need to see Aiden. You aren't going to like where this is headed."

She nods and gestures for us to follow her. It turns out that this "down the street" place she had spoken about earlier was a flipping _castle_ at the end of the road.

While we ate Wendy's bacon and waffles, apparently they were getting chummy with Ariel or something.

"Cinderella." Sabrina corrects when I voice my thoughts.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me. Of all the strange, twisted things that could've happened..."

"Hey, it's not like the troops would've fit in some ordinary old basement during the quakes." She shrugs defensively. "By the way, there's a ball tonight. We were planning on going."

"No." I respond immediately, crossing my arms.

"Come on, Princess. It's not like you can just refuse the invitation."

"My name's Ivory. And why not? Will they execute me if I do?"

"I might if you keep talking."

Stryker earns himself an elbow in the ribs for that one.

We walk past a large gate in the front, and Sabrina leads us up a painfully long spiral staircase to an open room near the top.

Aiden sits at a desk, with one hand shoving his hair out of his face while he scribbles out notes on a page. He almost stands at our approach, which would've sent scattered papers everywhere, but something in my expression must tell him he'll want to stay seated. "What's up?" He inquires uncertainly.

I grip the charm with one hand and try to rush it out as fast as I can. "Someone planted this where they knew I'd be, so I'm thinking that it had to be Gabe because of his special talent type thing, but the specific person that was in possession of this item last was working against us, so I maybe almost think that Gabeisworkingforthequeen."

A stifled chortle comes from behind me. "Well, that sucks."

* * *

**Well, that random person summed up the situation perfectly. That's exactly what I would want to hear if I found out my brother was a traitorous scumbag.**

**REVIEW. **

**-Dictatorship**


	26. Chapter 26

**WHOOOOOO! TWO UPDATES IN THE SAME WEEK!**

**NOT TO MENTION THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET.**

**You see what happens when you review? I feel the love, and so does my writing hand. **

**My writing hand loves you all. *freakish smile***

* * *

I roll my eyes and turn around to face Stryker's troop commander brother.

"Who asked you, Jason?"

"No one, baby." He grins, playing with a strand of hair that had fallen loose around my face.

I slap his hand away.

"I just thought you might appreciate my opinion."

"Well I don't, you pig." I snap, moving over to stand between Stryker and Aiden. They both step in front of me at the same time, the overprotectiveness making me scowl.

Sabrina cleared her throat and tried to change the subject, her eyes swimming with hurt and confusion. She, Aiden, and Gabe were triplets, after all.

"So, Ivory. We found Harmony yesterday."

I turn my neck to look at her.

"Really? Does she know where the others are?" She shakes her head. "No idea, but it's good that we've at least got her, despite how cheerful she always seems to be."

I chuckle a little. "I'd be a little worried of she wasn't."

A pretty blond with sky blue eyes pokes her head in through the door. "Two hours."

She then proceeds to walk right back out the door, leaving me incredibly confused until I notice Sabrina's demonic smile.

Harmony has somehow appeared in the room, too. She stands across from her sister, the two of them looking quite evil and ready to corner me.

They seemed to get over Gabe's betrayal pretty fast. Then again, maybe they're just looking for a distraction.

Shoot.

The ball is tonight.

_I'm _their distraction.

"No." I growl, stepping backwards until I hit the wall.

They step all the way forward. "Yes."

"Back me up here!" I shout at the boys, trying to claw my way free.

Stryker crosses his arms, looking amused as he shakes his head no.

"You traitorous scumbag." I gasp, dropping down to dive between their legs.

Then a thought occurs to me. "This is how I die."

My supposed best friend rolls his eyes at me. "You're not going to die."

"You don't know that!" I shriek as every person in that room collaboratively sits me in a chair and ties my hands behind me.

The boys walk out.

"Where are you going?" I hear my voice become shrill and panicked. "You can't just leave me in here!"

Stryker's voice eventually fades away as he travels downstairs with the guys, but not before I hear him say, "Honestly, she's more scared now than when we were kidnapped."

"Ugh." I groan, sitting still because the girls assured me it would take longer if I didn't. Apparently, they're dressing themselves up after me because I need the most work.

I'm not sure if I should be offended by that...

After being shoved in the shower, I'm given a fairly decent and un-frilly gown to put on. Even if I would rather sit upstairs and map out ways to locate Bailey while they party, at least they're trying to make it fairly painless.

"A ball." I mutter under my breath. "Really? A freaking _ball?_"

"Shut up." Sabrina smacks the side of my head. "My God, do you _ever_ run a brush through this mane of a thing? I think it's alive."

In a surprisingly short amount of time, they'd managed to comb out all of the snarls in my hair from lack of brushing and matted blood. Or dirt.

"I haven't had much of an opportunity lately." I sneer, sinking back into my chair.

Once they finish, they move on to blow drying it, my natural curls quickly reforming. After a heated debate over what to do with it, they decide to put it in a fancy bun thingy with a bunch of little strands falling out and two of them framing my face.

They try to move towards me with makeup a couple times, but after multiple curses and threats to bite them, they let me go about my business with a pair of gold, flat-bottomed shoes shoved onto my feet.

The two won't allow me to leave the room in the hour left before the ball, knowing I would likely mess up all of their hard work, so I decided to figure out what Aiden had been working on before we got here. His papers were littered with flow charts, random notes scribbled in the margins, and lines crossing over each other.

He was trying to locate Bailey, too.

My heart clenched and I quickly dashed a hand across my eyes to make sure I wasn't crying. A strong hand rested itself on my bare shoulder.

"You okay?" Aiden asked, glancing from me to the papers and then back again. He looked worried.

"Fine." I answer hoarsely. "Sorry about that. I just got curious."

He nods and backs up as the other guys walk in, Stryker with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed, while his brother looks like he's enjoying being his usual jerk of a self.

"Wow, you actually look sort of decent." Stryker teases.

My dress has a few layers from the waist down to make it look like it was flowing from the white at the very top slowly into the deep, bright blue at the bottom. It's held up by two straps of gold chains.

"You don't." I snort, looking at their tuxedos and normal, not combed back hair condescendingly.

Why did stuff like this have to be so darn easy for guys?

"You look like you're going to a funeral."

"Please, honey. The only thing that's died around here is your dignity."

Darn him. Darn them all.

Sabrina and Harmony choose that moment to walk out. Sabrina's caramel waves have stayed down, with a little piece on the left side twisted and pinned back. Her silver eyes have been done up with something, giving them a smoky effect, and she wears a gray strapless gown with a silver bow that's tied in the back.

Harmony's straight auburn hair is elaborately twisted back into some kind of braid and she wears a white dress shorter than the rest of ours that flares out from the waist down. The straps are the kind that cover the top of your arms, but not your shoulders. She's strapped a bright green belt to it to match her eyes.

The pretty blond from before walks in with a dark blue, sparkling dress and her hair loose. "Are you guys all ready to go?"

There are a few nods.

"Is that...?"

"Yep." Sabrina answers. "Cinderella."

There are already tons of people in the huge ballroom, and more arriving through the giant glass double doors.

We descend the spiral staircase like something out of a sappy fairy tale (oh, the irony) as Cinderella comes after with her prince. Some people I recognize as other Disney princesses, but I don't know anyone aside from that.

Naturally, I grab Stryker and go over to the food table. I guess food just beckons to the socially awkward.

He laughs and jokes along with me for a while, but eventually a pretty girl stops by, asks him to dance just like I knew someone would, he says yes like I suspected he would, and he was gone with the swish of a blood red dress.

I shove a cookie in my mouth and try not to dwell on it.

A few more minutes pass, and then Aiden approaches me. "Care to dance, princess?"

I give him a tiny smile, but shake my head. "I don't know how."

He grabs my hand and pulls me out on the floor anyways. "Well, I guess you'll just have to follow my lead." He pulls me in and twirls me around.

I step on his feet more than once, but he really doesn't seem to care. I soon find myself laughing and joking around with him, but when he spins me out next, someone else grabs my hand.

Aiden furrows his brow for a second, but starts dancing with Sabrina. Apparently, she'd gotten bored of being hit on and run to her brother for help.

Meanwhile, I'm turned around to face Jason. "Enjoying yourself, m'lady?" He smirks.

"Well, I was. What do you want, fish breath?"

"Wealth, pie, fame, fortune, a cheese wheel the size of my head, a new mansion, a private beach, my driver's license, a sniper rifle, a neat car, a Rottweiler, that video game that comes out next month-"

"I meant from me."

"What? Just because I abducted you, that automatically means I must want something?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Maybe I just wanted to get to know you better."

"Then stop staring at me like I'm that head sized cheese wheel you wanted."

Then he spins me out and, once again, I'm snatched by a different hand and pulled in. This time it's Stryker.

His pretty brunette in the red dress pouts as she stalks off to the food table. I have to fight an odd urge to stick my tongue out at her.

"Hey." He says quietly, a frown on his face.

"Hi." I raise my eyebrows.

"Don't talk to Jason. He'll only and up hurting you. Plus, he's a total jerk."

"Okay, _mom_." I tease. "Besides, he pulled me over there. It's not like I went willingly."

He's still frowning. "Ivory, I..."

"What's up?" I ask when he doesn't continue.

He just shakes his head and keeps dancing.

"I love this song." I smile lightly when the tune changes.

"Me too." He grins, finally looking me in the eyes again as he quietly sings along.

_Pull the trigger without thinking_

_There's only one way down this road_

_And it was like a time bomb set into motion_

_We knew that we were destined to explode_

Gnawing on my lower lip while Stryker pushes me out and pulls me back in, I recall some of the lyrics from earlier songs.

_Get me out of this place before I cause more damage_

_A small price to pay for building houses out of matchsticks_

_But then you drop that bomb_

_All I can hear is all these car alarms_

_So when you fall, I take my turn, and fan the flames as your blazes burn_

_Shot through the heart and you're to blame_

_This is becoming a catastrophe_

_Take a breath, say goodbye_

_Rest in pieces_

That didn't sound like any random D. J. That sounded like an iPod. My iPod. And every song that had played involved death or destruction in some way.

I pulled back hard from Stryker, making him tilt his head in confusion. "What's wrong?"

I don't answer.

Instead, I turn on my heel and duck underneath a few fat streamers, throwing my inconvenient shoes off as I sprint to the staircase leading down.

****"Get everyone out, now!"

* * *

**Imma put a disclaimer here- I DIDN'T WRITE ANY OF THOSE SONG LYRICS. THEY'RE ACTUALLY SONGS THAT I'VE HEARD AT SOME POINT IN TIME AND DECIDED TO USE FOR THEIR SUBTLY DESTRUCTIVE WORDS. **

**If anyone can name them without Google, I'll be quite impressed.**

**-Dictatorship**


	27. Chapter 27

**BLOLOLOLOLOL I'M BAAAAAACK! **

**Thank you guys for all the reviews. I enjoy them. They would've made me update faster, but there was STAR testing, and I had to study a lot because my math teacher is only a teacher because he likes to hear himself speak and has nothing else to do with his miserable life. There was also a lot of homework.**

**So there.**

**Don't kill me.**

* * *

I throw out a few colorful words under my breath as I sprint down the stairs. I tear the skirt of my dress off so I'm just in the top part and jean shorts. That helps my speed a little, but I'm still not fast enough.

I'm not going to get there in time.

The haunting songs are still playing, getting louder and louder the further down I go. It's changed to a bunch of slow melodies that are loud enough to make my ears ring during the small pauses in between them.

I hear much quieter footsteps behind me, the noise just barely grazing my ears in the brief, beautiful silence. "Stryker, get out of here!" I scream, not looking back.

He catches up to me easily, resting a hand on my shoulder. "Not a chance, princess. If we go down, we go down together."

I stumble to a halt. "We don't know what's down there!" I point out.

"Well, I guess we'll find out."

"We don't both have to die if this is the Queen's doing."

"We'll all die at some point in time. It might as well be tonight."

I give up. "Just be careful."

He gives me an arrogant smirk of a smile. "Always."

Sliding my hand into his for reassurance, we continue to jog downwards in a spiral motion that makes my head spin. At the base, there's a huge pair of doors that are shaking violently. Ignoring the senses screaming at me to run, I try the handle. It's locked.

"On three?" I question. Stryker nods and prepares to ram his shoulder into it while I place my foot in just the right spot to snap the hinges. There's the sound of wood splintering before it goes down with a heavy_ thud_.

Pleased with our handiwork, I don't even wait for the dust to settle before plunging inside.

The music stops.

There, in the middle of the cavernous room, was Bailey, hog-tied to a little wooden chair. As I got closer, I saw that Dustin was there, too. He was tied to the chair opposite her. They both have salty tear tracks running from their bloodshot eyes down to their gags. I almost start crying myself as I sprint over to untie them.

But then there's something stopping me.

I look up to meet horribly familiar obsidian eyes and promptly fall on my butt, scrambling backwards crab-style.

"Gabe." I snarl.

"Ivory." He nods curtly. "I'm happy to see that you figured out the first challenge. Maybe you're not as hopelessly stupid as I had first thought."

"Gee, thanks." I drawl out sarcastically. "You should see a doctor about this 'evil' thing. It's really quite unappealing on you."

"Eh. I like it." He tosses me a little scroll of paper, which I immediately shove into my back pocket. "We're going to play a game. You've survived so far, but unfortunately, I happen to have a twist up my sleeve."

He points to little grey blocks with black devices wired to them, lining the walls of the room. There are more than I can count. "C-4. There are at least 50 pounds of it. Maybe more. I lost track."

He's got a maniacal glint in his eyes. As he switches on a remote in his hand, the detonators glow red and start to beep.

"Why are you doing this?" I whisper.

"The Queen wasn't at all happy that the useless man you call Brock couldn't properly dispose of you. This is her way of making things more...interesting. You've got two and a half minutes before this place is nothing more than a burning pile of rubble. That piece of paper in your pocket is the next clue. That is, if you make it out of this one."

"You would risk the death of two of your own family members? And what makes you think I'll play along with your sick little games?" My voice takes on a tone of incredulity, but I'm hopelessly disoriented, so I'm not exactly threatening.

Completely unperturbed, he walks out the door without answering me. "Oh, and I really hope you don't die, Ivory. You seem to almost be a worthy opponent. I look forward to playing with you."

"Bite me." I snarl.

He just laughs, and he's gone, disappearing into thin air.

Stryker's been untying the kids the whole time.

"Take them upstairs. Run as fast as you can."

"But what about-"

"GO!" I shout.

He hesitates. "There's no way you'll be able to make it if you don't come, too. Please, just let the castle burn."

"You know I can't do that. Go. Keep them safe."

He obeys this time, pressing his lips to my forehead, whispering "Please live," before sprinting out with one exhausted first grader slung over each shoulder.

I blink a few times, confused, but immediately get to work when a little beep coming from a giant, glowing red digital clock on the wall alerts me to the fact that I have 2 minutes left to prevent my death.

I grab two of the blocks and quickly throw them back down, knowing there has to be a master block that'll command the rest to ignite. After all, Gabe had only had one very simple remote.

_There_.

A huge block with a complex device attached to it sits in the very back of the room. I run to it and kneel down, pulling out a mass of connecting wires.

My heart sinks. I thought there would only be one.

_It doesn't matter. _

I pull out a yellow one and gnaw on it until it snaps. The blinking and beeping doesn't stop, but I haven't been blown to smithereens. So far, so good.

A loud noise like the pop of a champagne bottle makes me jump back, almost dropping the wires in my hand. There's a boy there that looks only slightly older than me. Lanky but muscular, he had auburn hair that flopped into his dark brown eyes and a smattering of freckles across his cheekbones. He wore camouflage cargo pants and a short sleeved dark green shirt.

He also had no shadow.

"My God, it never ends." I moan, throwing my head back in annoyance.

The boy holds his hand out. "Come with me. We've got to get out of here."

"No!" I shout back, not thinking straight. My head is pounding faster than my heart, and my ears are still ringing like a broken, never ending school bell. "I've got to defuse these bombs!"

"Honestly, girl. Do you think you've got enough time for that?!"

"I have a minute an a half!"

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"No! I have no idea!"

"If you cut the wrong wire, it'll all blow." His voice takes on a calm, deadly tone."Everyone is already outside. If you stay in here, the only person these things will have the opportunity to kill is you."

A tiny little beep sounds. 60 seconds left.

A minuscule piece of light, almost like a spark, flits by my ear. "Go." A familiar voice whispers. I shoot a hand out and grab it, slowly unfurling my palm.

"Jae?!" I gasp, immediately releasing my hold on the blond fairy's glowing gold wings.

45 seconds.

"Jae?" Peter frowns. "That's Tink."

"There's no time to explain!" She hissed out in her voice like a wind chime. "Let's move!"

30 seconds.

I glance between them both in bewilderment. Peter's still holding out a hand with gritted teeth. "If you don't mind, princess, I wasn't planning on dying today."

15 seconds.

I grab onto his hand and we're suddenly crouched behind a gargoyle in the cold night air, watching the Charming family castle go up in flames.

"Y-You just apparated like Harry Potter. What _was_ that?" I demand, backing up.

"It's teleportation. One of the perks of flying." He gives me a little wink and starts to float up in the air, playing his trademark little reed whistle as he prepares to fly off.

"Not so fast." I pull him downwards by one foot and snatch 'Tink' off of his left shoulder. "I believe your fairy owes me an explanation."

* * *

**Meh. Not my best work, in my opinion.**

**What did you guys think?**

**-Dictatorship**

**P.S. If you review, it might make my day. Just a warning, you know. In case you don't want me to be giddy while writing the next chapter. ****_That_**** would be scary... *shudders***


	28. Chapter 28

**AAAHHHHHH IT'S BEEN SO LONG. **

**Hehe. Again.**

**I may have a problem. Although, I mainly just have school to blame. I've been working my butt off because every teacher I have but science and P.E. are behind, so we have to do a whole lot at home. But I'm almost done. Then I can write a lot more often.**

* * *

"This doesn't make sense! How can you have a character in two separate stories? Why are you here? On second thought, scratch that. I'm the reason everyone's here. Why did you come and save me? How'd you know I was down there?"

"Well, the guy over there with the skanky brunette hanging all over him asked me to pop in and help you once he figured out what I could do."

I grit my teeth. Peter gives me a little wink.

"As for why I'm here, it seems I've lost my shadow. I was looking for it when said skank caught my attention, but it looks like I've lost my sword, too."

I frown and lift an eyebrow. "Why would you need your sword?"

"To stab her. Come on, Princess. I know you're stressed, but try to keep up here."

Jae giggles until I make a scissoring motion towards her wings with my left hand.

"I'm still not following. Why stab her?"

"Because Captain Jamie C. Hook is a menacing codfish, pure and simple."

"Captain Hook?" I break out laughing hard enough to put a sizeable stitch under my ribs. "Oh God, wait until Stryker finds out! He might actually kill himself."

Peter just smirks and starts to float up again.

I stop laughing.

"I'm not done with you."

Another yank and he tumbles out of the sky.

"There's one question... Tink... still hasn't answered."

Jae blew her indigo-streaked blonde bangs out of her eyes and stuck one hand on her hip. "I can shift in between whatever stories I want to, whenever I want to."

"Are you the only one that can do that?" Peter raised a thick eyebrow.

"No. They call us Glitches, because this was never supposed to happen, but there's nothing the story system can do to wipe us out. It takes years to develop the skill. So many people that have tried don't have the patience. Waiting eventually drives them nuts and they kill themselves."

"Prove it." I narrow my eyes.

"There was a ninth dwarf. He was a lot like Gabe, but more reckless. Gabe is a planned kind of crazy. Anyways, those two did everything together. His death , along with all the visions, is what they say finally drove him over the edge."

"Oh." I whisper.

"Yeah." The light particles around her seem to dim a little. "One more thing you should know is that not all of them are in it to help people. I do, because I was completely sane to begin with, but those of us that didn't end up killing themselves turned just a bit more evil in the process. They're really dangerous, and almost impossible to kill."

"Great." I scowl. "Another way to make this mess worse."

Jae shrugs, fluttering her wings and they set off in the direction of Wendy's house in search of the shadow. This time I let them go, watching as they turn into specks in the distance, the little fairy resembling a star.

Careful to swerve far enough around the gargoyle's pointy edges, I turn and walk to the crowd of people huddled a few yards away from the burning rubble.

Stryker's the first one to notice me coming. In a blur, I'm picked up and spun around, successfully making me dizzy and uncomfortable.

"You're alive." He smiles.

I click my tongue at him. "Did you expect anything less?"

"Maybe."

"Stryker, please. I am invincible."

"Whatever. Just don't test that theory anymore."

"I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

"Oh?" A crease appears in between his eyebrows. "And why's that?"

I pull out the piece of paper I got from Gabe. "Because this is a game now. And if I don't play along, a whole lot of people, innocent or not, are going to die."

"Well, what an uplifting evening this has been."

"Shut up and help me decipher this thing."

I tilt my head to the side, confused. The paper is filled with a bunch of words that don't make any sense bunched together.

I feel rather than see his eyes connect with Hook's.

"Yeah." He runs his fingers through his hair. "Let's do that tomorrow."

"Okay, before you go off sucking faces with an evil coward, let's think of the children at stake here. We don't have much time."

"Evil coward? That's a bit harsh."

"She's Captain Hook." I state without looking up.

"That can't be true. She has two hands!"

"Really, now? Did you check under her left glove?"

"Well, no." He rubs at the back of his neck.

"Go check." He does, and his attempt at subtlety almost cheers me up.

When he comes back, he looks like he's seen a ghost. "Let's look at the paper."

I roll it out.

**Day an add ice sauna tat earn panda sat foo under Sat alGebra rhonda ba h**

"I already tried to use all the first letters and write all the letters and words backwards. None of those amount to anything. To me, it just looks like some exorcism or something."

We get a few curious glances over our shoulders as some of the guests are wheeled away on gurneys for 'shock'.

Pansies, if you ask me. Were any of _them _actually down there?

Our breaths become clouds in the frigid air, and the Charmings, dwarfs, and Jason are the only ones left, stamping their feet and hugging each other to keep warm, before we have anything even coming close to a lead. I'm sitting on the ground with a leftover jacket draped around me.

**Day an add.**

"Don't the first three words kind of look like Dyana?"

"Yeah." He scratches at his chin and tosses me a pencil we found.

"It's just an idea, but try the first and last letters of every word."

I jot it down in my sloppy curled lettering.

**_Dyana dies at ten past four staarabah._**

He sits down next to me, running over the words with a finger. "Maybe because sat is capitalized it means Saturday? And the capital G in alGebra is used, maybe canceling out the last letter?"

_**Dyana dies at ten past four Saturday Agrabah.**_

I wrinkle up my nose. "_What_ is an Agrahba?"

Harmony's head jerks up. "Isn't that where Aladdin takes place?"

"Crud." I mutter.

We don't know where that is.

Sabrina nods. "It has to be. Good job, guys. You figured it out. Now can we please find someplace warm to sleep?"

"Yeah, of course. Let's go." I pick up a sleeping Dustin, Aiden carrying Bailey, who's still crying softly into his shoulder.

The prince leads us to a nice hotel a few blocks away, where we can crash for a few hours before coming up with some sort of a plan to end this nightmare.

* * *

**I probably should be writing an analytical essay right now...**

**Whatever.**

**Tell me what you think, or how much you hate my lack of updating skills.**

**WOOT WOOT.**

**-Dictatorship**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hello again. I see I got no reviews. **

**That's cold. I'm hurt.**

**But I wrote a new chapter anyways, you fiends.**

* * *

I wake up in a panic with a hand over my mouth, lashing out before I have time to process what's in front of me.

"Jesus, Ivory!" Stryker whisper-curses, removing his hand to grip his torso, where I'd just planted a rather hard kick.

"Sorry." I whisper back, wrinkling my nose. "But you really should've known better."

He just glares at me and nods his head towards the balcony outside the room I'm sharing with the girls.

Well, except Bailey. She refused to leave her twin's side.

I slip out through the door onto the tiny little balcony and lean against the wall, scared that if I lean on the railing it'll break.

Stryker comes out after me and shuts the sliding glass door, sitting on the ground with his elbows resting on his knees.

"So." I yawn.

"So..." He repeats.

"Why'd you wake me up?"

"It's about the clue..." He scratches the spot above his eyebrow. "I don't think that it was really a clue, if that makes sense."

I raise my eyebrows. "Gabe said that it was. I'm not just guessing here."

"I know, but didn't it seem too easy? I mean, the first clue involved you listening to song lyrics in a crowded room and recognizing that they were the more violent songs from your iPod, and for this one, he just hands you a sheet of paper with the answer practically written on it?"

I glance at him. "You think this is a trap."

"Well, yeah."

I roll my eyes. "You think _everything_ is a trap."

He puts his hands up in defense. "I'm just trying to keep you alive." His voice drops to a mutter. "I seem to be doing that a lot."

I set my jaw and drop my voice to a deadly growl. "What was that?"

Never one to back away from an argument, his eyes harden. "All I'm saying is that you keep throwing yourself headfirst into dangerous situations, and you won't listen to me when all I'm trying to do is keep you safe."

"I didn't ask you to keep me safe, Stryker."

"No, but if it weren't for me, you'd already be dead."

My cheeks burn as I scowl at him and stand up, about to push the glass door back open.

"Wait. I-I'm sorry." I can tell he's really trying hard to get through to me, because that boy is more stubborn than anybody I've ever known.

I shift my eyes back to him.

"I just think you should watch your back at that showdown on Saturday, that's all. I don't want you to... you know... accidentally blow yourself up."

I roll my eyes again. "That's the problem, though." I whisper miserably. "I can't watch my back! I'm not given any options! He knows that I'll come, because I can't risk him killing his precious little captives, especially when I know that whatever happens to them is all my fault." I feel my voice crack, but I don't let myself cry.

"Ivory..." He calls after me, but I'm already gone, going out and pacing the endless hotel hallway until I can go back to sleep.

* * *

The second time I'm woken up, it's by the sunlight.

I'm alone, curled into a ball on the side of the bed.

I stretch my back and head for the bathroom, noticing a little yellow note on the mirror that tells me they all went out for breakfast with the Charmings and didn't want to wake me.

There's a little smiley face in the bottom corner.

I chuckle bitterly. In their world, apparently being nice means leaving me to fend for myself or starve.

I yank a plain grey T-shirt over the blue tank top I'm already wearing and throw on a pair of jeans and sneakers.

For a while, I try to undo the bun from last night that I never took out, but there are too many bobby pins. I eventually decide not to anger the beast and let it go. It really doesn't look THAT bad.

It's not until I'm almost out the door when I see it.

On the latch over the door, there's a substance almost exactly like dust, but much shinier. Almost metallic, and practically invisible if you aren't looking at it from the right angle.

I run my finger along the latch and press a few particles together between my fingers, biting my lip hard to keep in a scream when it starts to burn.

And I mean really burn.

It feels like I'm holding my fingers in the flame of a candle, but when I look at them, there's no sign of any damage, and the dust is gone.

Shaking my head and yawning, I slide on a jacket to avoid the cold morning air and head to the elevator.

Stryker's brother is already there, leaning against the railing on the inside. He nods in my direction once I enter.

"Going down?"

"Yeah." I scowl, crossing my arms and looking at the shiny floor instead of him. "You didn't go get food with everyone else?"

"Nope." He states. "I was up on the roof for a while."

"Well, what was going on up there?" I question.

"Not much." He gives an easy little laugh. "I was just thinking."

"Right." I bite my lower lip.

Something is really wrong. He's being too nice. It almost seems, for once, that he's not completely absorbed in himself.

I catch something glint on the sleeve of his leather jacket. "What's that?"

He looks to where my finger is pointing and brushes the substance off immediately. "Just some dust from the roof."

My heart beat picks up. If it's ordinary dust, then why is it metallic?

The doors finally open. Jason gestures to a little cafe off in the corner of the lobby. "You want to go get some breakfast?"

I don't answer, cold dread filling me from head to toe, because for just a moment before he steps out, I swear that I see his bright blue irises glow black in his reflection on the floor.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN.**

**What do you guys think is wrong with Jason?**

**I already know exactly what's happening in the next chapter, so when I update is up to you guys...**

**-Dictatorship**


	30. Chapter 30

**WHOOOO. I got a lot of reviews, so I wrote. **

**I feel the love.**

**This would've been up sooner, but my laptop crashed. Sorry. 4 days is short enough.**

**I should go professional at this excuse-finding thing.**

* * *

"Ivory?" Jason smirks. "Hello? Anybody in there?"

I grit my teeth and try to slow down my pulse.

He raps on my head.

"_Hello_?"

"What are you? 10?" I snap, moving around him and stalking off towards the little cafe, my fingers curled around the tiny snub nose revolver in my pocket.

I watch his shadow and move a few steps forward every time he gets too close.

Which becomes almost impossible once we're in line.

I'm completely paranoid, the hair on the back of my neck prickling.

"You okay, princess?"

He's watching me slyly, like he knows something I don't.

"Fine." I say, hoping my voice wasn't shaking as much as I thought it was.

_Get a grip, Ivory. This is because Stryker_ _woke you up_. _You're overtired and hallucinating_.

The goosebumps on my arms aren't convinced.

I somehow force myself to let go of the tiny gun anyways.

When the line leads to the little counter, I grab the first things I see, which happen to be a bagel and some juice, toss some money down and walk quickly over to a table by a window.

You know, so I can have a lovely view of what's left of the world I can't seem to stop destroying.

Jason slides into the seat across from me.

"Feeling a bit jumpy today, aren't we?" He nods at me, devouring some greasy form of a food.

"I didn't sleep well." I lie smoothly, shooting him an apologetic smile.

He smiles back, and I see his eyes go black again.

I jump up, the hurried sound of my chair scraping against the floor drawing more than one irritated glance.

"I'm sorry. I've got to go. I'm just not-"

"You're not imagining things, Ivory."

"What? How did you..?" I struggle for the right words to express my bewilderment.

"I said you're not imagining things."

His previously too-nice voice has grown cold.

The eyes flash black again.

"Sit down."

"Gabe." I snarl, realization washing over me.

I should've run when I had the chance, should've trusted my instincts.

"Took you long enough, princess. Now sit down."

When I shake my head and turn around to make a break for the door, his voice drops to a conspiratorial murmur.

"You don't want me to have to kill all these witnesses, do you?"

I bite down hard on my tongue. "Witnesses to what?"

"I can think up any number of reasons."

I turn back to face him, eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

He gives a little shrug. "Collateral damage."

I slowly sink back down into the cushion of my chair.

He gives a smug little smile.

"Where's Jason?"

Gabe's features have morphed back into his own by now, light brown hair falling into those angry black eyes, making him look just like any other brooding teenager.

He plays with a quarter on the table, using his fingers to spin it around and then push it back down again.

"How do you know I wasn't him all along?"

I cross my arms and slowly sip my drink, watching his fingers carefully. He WAS the one that taught me everything I know about guns.

If his hands reached past my line of vision, even for a second, I was getting out of there.

"Fine, fine. He's up on the roof."

"Alive?"

His lips twist into a crooked smile. "Enough."

"Why? Why would you want to do any of this?"

"Because I can. You know Ivory, I really thought it would be more fun to play with you. You had potential."

"Had?"

"But I bet you didn't think relying on your team was a part of the game." He laughs. "That huntsman of yours was right. The note was a decoy."

"I gathered." I interject. "What did you mean I _had_ potential?"

He ignores me again.

Hiding the revolver in the sleeve of my jacket that rests on the table, I aim for his forehead and click off the safety, repeating the question again.

"Go right ahead, sweetheart." I'm given a condescending glare. "It won't kill me. I can glitch out anytime I want, and I would _love_ to hear you explain to the authorities how you 'accidentally' shot that fat woman in the booth behind me."

The gun goes slowly back into my pocket.

So that's how he did it. Glitching. He can be any character he wants, anywhere. It doesn't even matter if they already exist.

I should've known.

I'm officially out of options.

Underneath the table, I pull the cell phone I'm only supposed to use during emergencies from my pocket and frantically tap out a message, keeping my eyes on Gabe and praying that it can't be traced the whole time.

_**To Stryker**_  
_**From Ivory**_  
_**Gabe alert. Still in hotel. Need backup.**_

To my relief, it vibrates just moments later. I risk sneaking a glance at it..

_**To Ivory**_  
_**From Stryker**_  
**_I'll be there in 5 mins, tops. Be careful. I mean it._**

I try not to sigh out loud in relief and wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans.

I immediately zone back in to what Gabe's saying.

"What I meant by you 'had' potential was that you messed up. Game over."

"I don't suppose that means you've chosen to leave me alone?" My leg bounces in a nervous rhythm.

He just grins and turns his eyes down towards the glass in my hand.

I look down at the juice as well.

Apple.

"Son of a-" I gasp, but he's already gone; glitched out.

That's when I feel my throat start to close up. The room spins. When I try to stand; to get to somewhere more private to let the poison take effect, I fall, sprawling out on the floor and clutching my head with one hand, the other holding on to the little IW charm on my necklace like a life raft.

Several concerned faces appear above me, but black spots dot them all out until there's nothing left.

I can barely hear the distant conversation someone is having with a medic, the shouting somewhere behind me, the hushed, panicked tones coming from everywhere, because my mind is already drowning in the echoes of Stryker's I-told-you-so's.

* * *

**REVIEW OR I'LL SEND MY MINIONS TO EAT EVERY TOASTER WAFFLE YOU OWN.**

**-Dictatorship**


	31. Chapter 31

**Guys.**

**Guys, guess what. **

**I GET TO WRITE IN STRYKER'S POINT OF VIEW AGAIN BECAUSE IVORY IS PRETTY MUCH COMATOSE. **

**So, it's a mixed feelings kind of thing. **

**I'm still excited.**

* * *

**Stryker's POV:** (for those of you who didn't read my author's note despite the fact that it was wonderfully amusing)

* * *

I run through the clear double doors of the hotel into the crowded lobby two and a half minutes before I said I would.

I get a few weird looks, but they're deflected when a large number of gasps emit from the other side of the hall.

"Right. Just follow the commotion." I mutter to myself.

Typical.

Unfortunately, and not at all surprisingly, I'm too late. By the time I'm at some obscure little cafe in the corner Ivory is completely knocked out. That means everybody is freaking out.

"Stupid Gabe." I mutter.

He couldn't have attempted murder somewhere more private?

My head pounds a little and I panic when I notice a pretty girl with blonde curls on the phone with 911.

"Cancel the ambulance." I command.

She looks up, lost. "But..."

"Cancel it." I snap.

"Look, Mister. That girl needs a doctor."

I clench my fists, fabricating the best lie I can on short notice. "No she doesn't. She just needs an injection."

I swipe the receipt off of the table next to Ivory so that no one will be able to tell what she ordered.

"She must have eaten some nuts by mistake. I have her needle allergy thing upstairs."

"Shouldn't we bring out an ambulance anyways? It's an awful big risk." A rather plump man from behind the counter calls.

"And waste $900 because she was being stupid? I don't think so."

"And who are you to make that decision?" The blonde pipes up again.

"I'm her...brother."

I scoop Ivory up easily and turn away. Her temple rests on my shoulder, the ebony curls on the top of her head just barely brushing against my jaw. Her hand is still holding onto that silly charm I'd given her so long ago.

"What did you get yourself into this time?" I whisper as I step out of the elevator and onto our floor. Getting a key card into a door is no easy feat while you're holding a fairly tall teenager, but I manage to get it done.

Once inside, I kick the door shut behind me and set Ivory down on the bed sheets, pulling the thick covers over her shoulders when she starts to shiver.

I sit next to her on top of the blankets and grab the phone off of the bedside table. It's picked up after the first two rings.

"Hello?"

It's Harmony, even though I'd dialed Sabrina's number.

"Ugh." I sigh under my breath. I really don't want to have a conversation on different ways to wear a scarf.

She's sweet and all, but that much happiness is bound to drive anyone crazy at some point.

"Hi Harmony." I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Oh, hi Stryker!" She exclaims. "How are you? Did you get to Ivory?"

"I did." I say quietly, tucking a stray curl behind the ear of the sleeping princess. "Just not fast enough."

"Oh."

"So, what happened?"

"Let's just say that Gabe is at large again."

"That makes sense. Your mother is, too."

"The queen?" I stand up to bolt the doors to our room shut. "What's going on?"

"It's hard to tell."

"Humor me."

"Well, when Sabrina got her food, there was a piece of paper wrapped up in her straw, which was still packaged, so it was weird..."

I can actually feel her pondering.

"Harmony?"

"Right. Well, after she almost choked on it, she pulled it out and read it to us. It said that she had Dyana and your brother. He's really cute, by the way."

"And a complete jerk. Continue."

"Well, she has them both. She says she'll give them to us, but..."

"What is it?"

"You're not going to like this..."

"Just tell me."

"Don't hate me."

"Harmony!"

"She wants Ivory in return."

I set my jaw.

"What?" I ask very slowly.

Her rapid words fill the silence between the two receivers, reminding me a bit of that one bird that'll never shut up at four in the morning. "Well, we don't know if Gabe's gone rogue or if he just didn't follow through with their plan, but she wants her. She also said that if she didn't get what she'd wanted, she'd start... killing."

"What's the plan there?"

She won't answer.

"Harmony?" My voice takes on a warning tone.

Still nothing.

"Let me talk to Aiden."

I hear shuffling on the other line. "Hey, man." Aiden says bitterly.

"What is going on over there?"

"We don't have a plan yet, but the majority of them want to turn her in."

I notice that he had said 'them,' not 'us.' There still might be hope that he can change their minds.

"Aiden, you have to help me. Ivory's innocent, you know that. The queen will kill her."

"I know. Stryker, I don't like it any more than you do, but of we don't give her up, the queen will kill your brother, my sister, and then she'll find the rest of us."

"...Please?"

"I can't help you. I'm sorry. Dyana is the only mother any of these kids have ever had, including me."

I don't say anything for a long moment, and neither does he.

"Well, good luck getting her from me."

"Stryker, come on. She's got your family, too. You have to understand. We don't have a choice."

I close my eyes tightly.

"No, you do have a choice. There's always another way out of things. You just have to take the time to think of it."

"Str-"

I cut him off. "This girl is the closest thing to family I've ever had. I'm going to stand by her, even if the rest of you won't."

"Think about this. What would Ivory want you to do?"

I don't answer, knowing for a fact that she would sacrifice herself in a heartbeat. She was infuriating that way.

"I hope you're ready. You just made this into a war." I slam the receiver down so hard that Ivory flinches in her deep slumber.

"God dang it." I mutter, slamming my fist into a wall.

Plaster crumbles around my bloodied knuckles.

I just angered a bunch of dwarves with access to weapons and a huge reason to be fighting, and all I have on my side is my skills from being a huntsman and an unconscious girl.

And Captain Hook's phone number, but I'm not sure how much she'd help. Probably wouldn't even understand why I was fighting so hard.

Cinderella and Prince Charming might help, but by now, I don't even know where they are. They could be on the side of the dwarves.

I rub my temples and stand up to close the curtains against the bright grey sky.

She's saved their lives, and they won't even return the favor.

I pile furniture up against the windows and doors, hoping that will be enough until the morning. I can't exactly run downstairs with her after that huge fainting debacle without some questions. It'd be much easier at three in the morning.

I tuck my dagger into my belt, my hunting knife into my boot, and my gun into the inside pocket of my jacket so that everything is ready to go in the morning.

Then I watch cable until around seven and help myself to what I find in the mini fridge.

The bill's going to royalty, so what does it matter?

I have to keep checking over my shoulder to make sure fighting for Ivory's life isn't a lost cause.

She goes into a restless state at first, then there are nightmares and chills, and then she goes into a coma-like state.

That's what worries me.

Every once in a while, I have to put my hand above her nose, just to make sure there's still breath coming out.

When I try to sleep, worry keeps me up. It feels like someone stuck a knife in stomach and is slowly twisting it around and around, just waiting for me to break down.

I should've been there. This shouldn't have happened.

Eventually, the early hours of the morning come.

I hotwire a car, with no idea how to drive and no idea where to go. I just know we need to get out of there before someone finds us.

* * *

**Give me your thoughts.**

**Or I'll find out where you live and eat your parents. **

**Sorry. That was an obscure band reference. Please don't take it too literally, psychotic readers.**

**ANYWAYS, tell me what you thought. I won't be able to update for a week because I'm going somewhere with no wifi except that weird old dial-up thing, but I can still write. If I have comments when I come back, maybe I can take a moment out of my fabulous schedule to update.**

***insert smiley face that makes that seem less rude***

**-Dictatorship**


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